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Using the DosBox Debugger

2016-04-21T19:08:00.001+06:00

It's up to the individual if you want to use a debugger when reverse engineering a program. Some prefer a more cerebral challenge of only figuring out code execution using a decompiler tool, whereas others may find using a debugger useful for figuring out what values are passed to functions. I would recommend using a debugger particularly when reversing a game for the purpose of adding ScummVM support. When you start implementing code to implement game functionality, once you've got portions of the game disassembled, it can be immensely useful for tracking down bugs. Particularly if you initially write your code with names that closely match the names you give the methods in the disassembly.

For debugging purposes, if the game is a DOS game, the DosBox Debugger is the best tool I've found for executing and debugging DOS programs. The default distribution of DosBox doesn't have it enabled, but you can either compile DosBox with it enabled, or download a previously compiled executable. See the DosBox Debugger Thread for more information.

One of the biggest initial steps when using the DosBox debugger is matching addresses in executable at run-time with your disassembly in IDA. This can be done either from the debugger to IDA, or from IDA to the debugger:

How to Disassemble Setup.exe (Reverse Engineering)

2012-09-16T12:21:00.000+06:00

A disassembler is a program that lets you look at a program's machine code while executing on a computer. Disassembly is a type of analytic procedure programmers use to view how a program runs in memory. Several programs let you disassemble a setup.exe file. Disassembling a setup.exe file allows you to see how the installation procedure runs on the computer.

Instructions

- Download and install the IDA Pro program by Hex Ray (see Resources). The program is a color-coded application that lets you discern between your setup.exe code and the Windows operating system code. The memory view shows you the executing code for the EXE file located in memory. The program also let you manipulate values and pause the execution of the file. This helps you test program options for your setup.exe file.
- Download and install W32 DASM on your computer that has the setup.exe file on it (see Resources). W32 DASM is a free program, so it is good for people who are new to disassembling execution files and reading the code in memory. The interface is a single window that displays the code in each memory address. You cannot change the code in memory like you can with IDA Pro.
- Download and install OllyDbg (see Resources). The OllyDbg program is a disassembler and a debugger. A debugger works with a disassembler to view the code in memory and lets you manipulate the code to find problems and errors in the setup.exe file. The OllyDbg program is open source, so you can also add open source modules or add your own add-on to the program.

How to Reverse Engineering

2012-09-16T12:14:00.000+06:00

Introduction

This page is meant to provide some basic suggestions and strategies for people who are starting out with reverse engineering old adventure games, and aren't sure how to do it. It mainly focuses on resources and tools for reversing DOS game executables, but much of the strategies discussed may apply equally to other systems and debugging tools. This is only intended as an overview; you'll still need to read other resources to learn 8086 assembly language, and learn how to use the various tools effectively.

Resources

IDA Disassembler IDA is one of the best disassemblers available. And luckily, the freeware version works with old DOS executables. Even more so, the current freeware version supports viewing disassemblies in graph mode, making it easier to see the overall flow of individual methods.

DosBox Debugger The DosBox Debugger is an invaluable tool for running old DOS games, to monitor how the program executes, and what values are generated by the executing code.

XVI32 Hex File Viewer Although IDA has a built in hex viewer for the executable itself, the XVI32 tool is useful for viewing the contents of all the other files that come with a game. There are many different freeware hex editors available, so any other can be used just as easily.

Ralf Brown's Interrupt List A nice reference for the operation of DOS interrupts. In 8086 assembly, apart from directly accessing ports, using interrupts is the primary means of accessing system functionality such as opening files, changing graphics modes, and many other things.

8086 Assembly Language For those new to 8086 assembly language, you'll need a handy reference to learn the syntax. The Wikipedia is a good starting point, but you can also simply Google for an introduction as well.

Using the DosBox Debugger

From the debugger to IDA

This is the easiest. If you break execution of the game at any point, you can simply use the Find Binary option in IDA to search for a sequence of bytes from the instructions shown in the DosBox Debugger disassembly area. Be careful to pick instructions that aren't far calls or jumps - such instructions are modified when a program loads depending where it loads in memory, so the IDA disassembly won't have the exact same bytes. If you do find a match, double check that the offset within the segment of the found match in IDA matches the offset of the instructions in the DosBox Debugger. If not, you may have found a false match, and should either search for the next occurrence, or specify extra bytes in your search until you find the correct match.

From IDA to the Debugger

If you have a point in the IDA disassembly and want to figure out what address it will be loaded in the DosBox Debugger, it's also not hard. This is presuming the game in question doesn't use Overlays. Overlays were a method developed when games and other applications became too big to fit into memory at once. In these cases, code for the program is often stored at the end of the executable, or in separate files, and loaded as needed into part of the memory, overwriting previously loaded code. In such situations, it becomes hard to pin down a specific section in memory a given segment will be loaded at, since it may shift around in memory over the course of the program running, as it gets loaded, overwritten, and loaded again repeatedly.

So long as the game doesn't use overlays, the following steps can be used:

- look at the IDA view to find out the current file offset at the bottom of the screen. You'll quickly find it if you try selecting different instructions, since it will keep changing. Now:

- Get the value from the beginning of the current code segment. This is just to make the calculations easier, since the start of the segment will have an instruction offset between 0h and 0Fh, which means it won't be messing with our segment calculations

- Get the value from the beginning of the entire disassembly.

- Drop the last digit from both values, and get the difference between the two.

- For executables run in DosBox, add a value of '0138h'. For COM files, add a value of '0128h'.

This will give you the segment address of where the segment should be under DosBox. In either case, it's generally a good idea is to then rename the current segment in the IDA disassembly so that it includes the actual segment address of where it was loaded in DosBox.

For example, the first segment of executables is normally loaded at segment 0138h in memory, so you might rename the segment 'sg0138'. That way, if you later want to set a breakpoint in the DosBox Debugger for any instruction in the segment, you will immediately know what the segment is.

Using IDA Effectively

One of the best things to do when disassembling a game is to document everything. Particularly method parameters and structures.

Naming Methods

Methods can be renamed using the general 'N' hotkey (as well as via the menus), and the 'Y' can be used to specify a C-like prototype for a method. This is particularly useful when some of the parameters for a method are passed using registers. By explicitly documenting what the method expects, it makes it easier to remember later on when you're reversing methods that call it. Standard methods where parameters are passed via the stack are easy, since IDA can automatically set up the function prototype for you. If a method does have parameters passed in registers, prototypes like the below can be used:

int __usercall sub_100FB<ax>(__int8 param1<al>, int param2<bx>)

In this case, the method takes an 8-bit parameter in the al register, and another 16-bit value in bx, then returns a result in ax

Using Structures

The other thing you'll need to learn to use IDA effectively is the use of structures. Irrespective of what language a game was originally written in, there will always be structures containing related information. It may be something as simple as a C-style struct, or could even be the fields of a class in C++.

When dealing with data, you'll frequently see cases like

mov bx, 30h
mul bx
mov ax, [bx+2D00h]

In this case, an initial index in the ax register is multiplied by 30h (30 hexadecimal = 48 decimal). So from this we can determine that the given structure is 48 bytes in size, and can create a new structure accordingly. For smaller sized structures, you may want to create as many 2 byte word fields as needed to make up the correct size for the structure. For larger sizes, the easiest way is to simply declare an array of the needed structure size - 1, and follow it with a single byte field. You can then delete/undefine the array. The remaining byte will keep the structure at the correct size, and you can then later fill in the fields as you find references to them.

Secondarily, the value of '2D00h' indicates an offset in the data segment, representing the rough starting address of the first element of the given array in memory. Here we run into a minor problem. The offset of '2D00h' may not indicate the precise start of the array. If the code in question wanted to get the value at offset 8 in the structure, then the array may actually start 8 bytes earlier in memory, at address '2CF8h'.

In such cases, the only way to tell for sure is to start searching for immediate values in the program of values bytes backwards at a time, until you can't find any more values. For example, if you find references in the code of values '2CFFh', and '2CFEh', each with previous multiplications by 30h/48, but none for '2CFDh', '2CFDCh', or '2CFBh', then you can probably be confident that the array starts at offset 2CFDh.

Once that's determined, you can then create a dummy structure of the correct size, and convert the given address of 2CFDh to an instance of that structure type. Until you're more familiar with the range of values the original array index may be, it'll likely be easier to simply leave the defined array with the single index. Later on, you can always change the structure in memory to specify how many elements it has later on.

Remember that fields in structures can vary in size, so it's always possible you'll get the starting address wrong. In which case, you may have to later on correct the address of the structure in the data segment. This will affect any fields you figure out as well. In the above example, if you mistakenly presumed the array started at offset 2CFDh, then 2D00h would be thought to be a field at offset 3 in the structure (2CFDh + 3 = 2D00h, as per the above example code fragment). However, if the array structure really starts at 2CF8h, then the same field should be at offset 8 within the structure (2CF8h + 8 = 2D00h). So you need to rebuild the list of fields you'd figured out in the structure, since they'll all be at the wrong position. Overall, it's better when encountering an array to spend the extra time to ensure where it starts in memory so you don't need to fix offset problems later on.

Disassembly Strategies

One of the hardest things when starting work on a new disassembly is to figure out how to begin. The following are offered as suggestions of how to get started in the disassembly process.

File Access

One of the easiest places to start a disassembly is generally by identifying file accesses. Using IDA, you can, for example, do a text search for 'open', 'read', 'close', etc. to find occurrences of file opening. IDA provides standard comments for many operating system calls, so even in a new disassembly you should be able to locate such calls by their comment text. Likewise for file reading, writing, and closing. Normally, a program will encapsulate these calls into a method of it's own, so your first disassembly step can be in identifying the methods and naming them appropriately with names like 'File_open', 'File_read', and so on. Likewise, giving the passed parameters an appropriate name. In IDA, the 'Y' command can be used to set up an appropriate method signature for methods. By properly naming the method and it's parameters, this will help you in all the methods that call those methods.

For example, if a read method has a 'size' parameter and a 'buffer' parameter, then if a method that calls it passes '200' for the size, and a reference from a location on the stack, you can be confident that the stack entry can be called something like 'readBuffer', and use the '*' (array size) key when looking at the Stack View (Ctrl-K) to set the size of the array to 200 bytes.

You should hopefully then be able to start working on methods that call the file access functions and hopefully start decoding them. Some examples:

1. If the game consists of only a few large data files, the methods that call the open/read/close functions may a resource manager responsible for loading subsets of the file. In which case, the methods may likely load some kind of index into memory and then have a separate 'get resource' method that scans through the list for a resource with a given Id, resulting in a specific portion of the data file being read. In this case, you can identify all the methods with appropriate names like 'ResourceManager_init', 'ResourceManager_loadIndex', 'ResourceManager_getResource', and so on.

The DosBox debugger may prove useful when dealing with games using large resources. In DOS, Interrupt 21h is one of the primary system interrupts. Specific command Ids are passed in AH, and the other registers are set with values depending on which function is being called. For example, command 42h of Interrupt 21h is the command for seeking within a file. Try using 'BPINT 21 42' to put a breakpoint on any calls to seek system function. By clearly identifying the 'Seek method', you can then step out of that routine to find what called it. Hopefully, you can then examine the logic in the disassembly used to generate the file offset to help you figure out how file offsets are generated for specific resources, and from that figure out how the resource's index works.

Remember that game resource managers not only typically merge multiple individual resources into one single bigger file, they frequently also compress them as well, to save space and prevent people from seeing textual resources when viewing the contents of the file. In such cases, if you can figure out the strategy used for extracting single resources, it may be worthwhile taking the time to code a standalone program to extract and, if necessary, decompress single resources into separate output files. That way, you can more easily look at individual resources that are used by the game without having to worry about manually locating them in the archive/resource file.

2. If the game consists of many different files, it's likely the game will be manually calling the open/read/close methods whenever it wants to access a particular file/resource.

In either case, figuring out the file access routines will give you an excellent start into figuring out the contents of the game; you can then move onto methods that call the resource manager get resource method, and start looking at what kind of resources are loaded, and from there start identifying methods that make use of those resources.

Graphics access

Another place to get started on the disassembly is the graphic draw routines, those responsible for copying raw pixels to the screen surface.

Graphic display was complicated in the early PC days by different modes for the different graphics cards writing to memory in different ways. In the Monochrome/Hercules mode, for example, 8 pixels are stored per 8-bit byte. In EGA, the addressing can be complicated by how the display is configured - the same areas of memory may be used to represent different parts of pixels - with the part of a pixel being updated depending on specific values sent to hardware ports. Finally, of them all, the most common 320x200x256 colour mode is the easiest to deal with, with each pixel taking up a single byte.

For most of the graphics modes, you can look at them in a similar manner - as a block of data in memory starting at offset A000h:0. Only the number of bytes per line will vary, depending on what the graphics mode is. Assembly routines that deal with the graphics screen will typically have code to figure out screen offsets based on provided x and y parameters, so it will frequently be easy to identify the parameters and figure out how the screen offsets work. For example, in 320x200x256 MCGA mode, an offset on the screen will be calculated using the formula (y * 320) + x.

For finding the graphic routines you have two options:

The first is to entirely use IDA, and simply search for immediate values of 'A000h'. Since this is the area of memory that graphics are commonly displayed in, it can be a quick way to locate graphic routines.

The other alternative is to use the DosBox Debugger. It has a use command called 'bpm' that allow you to set a memory breakpoint, which then gets triggered if the given memory address changes. So you could do 'bpm A000:0' to set a breakpoint on the first byte of the screen memory (i.e. the top left hand corner of the screen). Then whichever routine modifies it first will trigger the breakpoint. Using the previously discussed techniques, you can find the same place in your IDA disassembly, and look into reversing that method first.

It will be likely that related functions will be next to each other, so once you've looked into the given identified function, you may also be able to review previous or following functions to see if they have identifiable graphic routines.

Data Segment strings

The strings in the data segment can be an excellent source for identifying the purposes of various methods. If you're very lucky, there may be error messages that contain the name of the function as part of the error. In which case, you can then find out what code references it, and name the methods appropriately.

Note: IDA is good, but it's not perfect., It's not always guaranteed to be able to figure out that a given value loaded into a register somewhere in the program is for a reference into the data segment. As such, if the cross-reference command doesn't give any references for a given string, try searching for an immediate value of the offset of the string. Chances are, any reference you find is likely pointing to the string. You can then use the 'O' command to change the operand from an immediate value to instead point to the offset in the data segment.

Even if any error messages don't contain method names, an error message can prove invaluable. For example, an error message like "Unable to initialise mouse" tells you that whatever method uses it is setting up the mouse for access, so could be given a name like 'initialise_mouse', or 'initialise_events'.

Likewise, have a look at the context of what needs to happen for the error message to be printed, since the message can give you insights into what is being done. A message like "No more free inventory slots" tells you that the code that references this error message is likely a routine for adding an item to the inventory (hence the error if no more slots are available). From there you might be able to identify the area of memory containing the inventory list, and then cross reference other methods that also access it - you could end up identifying a whole group of methods related to inventory manipulation.

Another possibility for data segment strings is to pick strings that may be descriptive enough to guess their purpose. For example, if a string has a name like 'FNT20', or 'UI.FNT', it's likely that it's a font file, containing the images for each character for use in displaying on the screen. In that case, any code that references it is likely to be passing it to a 'font_open' function, which loads up the font. If you can disassemble that method, you may be able to determine how the loaded font is stored in memory. From there, you can use the cross references function of IDA to find other methods that use the same memory address as where the font is stored, and which will likely give you the methods for actually displaying text on the screen.

From there, you may be able to go even further, and start figuring out methods that call the 'write string' function.. menus, hotspots, conversation handlers, and so forth.

Program execution

Another method for identifying methods may be simply executing the program itself. When running the program in DosBox, you may find it useful to start stepping through the main procedure to see what happens from stepping over every method. IDA may be helpful in identifying the main procedure, but even if not, most programming languages have a series of method calls for setting up the initial application state,and then a single final call to the 'main' method.

With the main method identified, stepping over each method may produce interesting results. For example, stepping over a single method call may run all the code for showing the game's introduction sequence before returning control to the debugger. If this can be identified, you could name the method appropriately. You may then be able to gleam information from how the method is called and for the method itself:

For where the method is called, there may be conditional checks to see whether the method is called or not. For example, some games may have a stored settings file to flag whether the introduction has been shown, and not show it again after the first time the game is played..

In that case, a method call just prior to the method call to show the introduction may be for reading in the game settings and checking the flag for whether the introduction has been shown. Knowing this, you could name multiple methods for reading settings, then within it file opening and reading, and so on.

Within the method itself, you may likewise be able to figure out further specific details of how the method is implemented from the method calls it makes. For example, a 'play introduction' method may consist of calling the same method multiple times with different parameter values. These values may well be offsets within the data segment for resource or file names for specific animations to run. In which case, you now know the sub-method is an animation player, and name it accordingly. You could then start work on the animation player, figuring out how it loads it in data, and what method it uses to build up and display graphics on the screen.

Particularly for cases like that, identifying and naming the graphic/screen methods may be helpful, since you could work the disassembly from both the front end reading the animation, and from the low level drawing of the graphics of the animation.

Final Words

Reverse engineering a game can be a rewarding experience, but plan to spend a lot of time working on it. Reverse engineering a game can take months, even years for really complicated games. As you gradually start figuring out sections of the original game, it may prove helpful to dive into creating the engine in a fork of the ScummVM code. Re-implementing things such as resource managers, and file access, it may help you figure out the purpose of other methods more easily if you can see what the code you implement does, and thus get a better idea of what kind of data will be passed to other methods you haven't yet figured out.

SkyDrive expands developer APIs: app pickers, full resolution images; and you can share via SkyDrive in Gmail!

2012-09-11T15:19:00.002+06:00

SkyDrive continues to open up its platform to developers of all types, announcing today in a blog post that Attachments.me (a service that saves and retrieves Gmail attachments to Dropbox, Box, and Google Drive) has added SkyDrive to the list, and promoting some new features making it easier for web developers to use SkyDrive.

Attachments.me, via a Chrome extension, has added SkyDrive to its list of save locations:

SkyDrive is at TechCrunch Disrupt this week, promoting SkyDrive, and is promoting some additions to the SkyDrive APIs that were announced last month.

Specifically, SkyDrive has added an app picker for web developers using their Javascript API, making it as easy to add a file picker to a web page as it is to a Windows 8 app:

Shortly after we launched the SkyDrive API, we began to get feedback from web developers about how difficult it was to actually integrate opening or saving files to SkyDrive. And at the same time, developers were finding this very easy when building Windows 8 apps. The key problem was that app developers would need to re-implement the SkyDrive file picker to create a great experience when accessing or saving files to SkyDrive.
To address this feedback we’ve created a SkyDrive file picker for web apps. The SkyDrive file picker makes it easy easy to give your website the ability to open and save files to SkyDrive with just a few lines of JavaScript code.

and now allows full resolution images to be programmatically stored on SkyDrive:

By default, if an uploaded photo is larger than 2048 × 2048 pixels in size, SkyDrive automatically tries to shrink it so that it fits within this 2048 × 2048 pixel size constraint. We think that provides a good default balance between a high quality picture but also not using up tons of storage. But there are times you really want the full resolution, and so you override this behavior when using the SkyDrive REST API.

If you’re a developer looking to use SkyDrive in your apps, check out the Live Interactive SDK on dev.live.com, which includes SkyDrive, Identity, Hotmail, and Messenger APIs.

YouTube launches new iPhone app ahead of iOS 6 release

2012-09-11T14:37:00.001+06:00

New version will include access to thousands of additional videos, notably major-label music videos, which is made possible with now-allowed advertising.

Days before iOS 6 lands on iPhones without the familiar pre-installed YouTube app, Google has released a new version with some significant upgrades. (Grab the app here.)

Tens of thousands of additional videos can now be played through the iOS app, notably major-label music videos. That will be made possible by advertising, which was forbidden in the original Apple-designed app. The new YouTube also includes an easier way to browse any channels you've subscribed to -- just swipe right from the left side of the screen to see a list of them -- and new options for sharing videos with friends, including Facebook and Google+.

Last month, a new beta release of iOS removed the YouTube app, which has been a part of Apple's mobile operating system since the original iPhone launch. Apple said at the time that its license to include YouTube had ended and that users would be free to access YouTube via the mobile Web or a forthcoming app that YouTube was building itself. That app arrives today.

For YouTube, breaking with Apple meant a chance to bring the slick, modern experience it built for Android devices to hundreds of millions of current and future iPhone owners. YouTube had little control over the app that bore its name for the past five years; Apple built the app itself according to YouTube's instructions but updated it infrequently. The ban on advertising made it difficult to access copyrighted content inside the app; many a music fan went looking for a Lady Gaga video over the years on iOS and came up empty.

The new YouTube app makes it easier to find major-label music videos, which will be supported with advertising.

(Credit: YouTube)

"Over the years that resulted in a more limited experience for our users, and lots of frustration," said Francisco Varela, global director of platform partnerships at YouTube. "We're going to get rid of that."

Varela then put it another way: "You're now going to be able to watch your Lady Gaga video on your phone."

A changing relationship
The original deal between Apple and Google on the YouTube app helped remake video for the mobile world, as the iPhone's lack of support for Adobe Flash meant YouTube's catalog had to be re-formatted to work in HTML5. The iPhone's popularity helped make MP4 format the standard format for mobile video. Over the years, it became less important for Apple to have a dedicated app for finding videos that would play on its phone.

At the same time, the Apple-Google relationship has soured considerably since the launch of the first iPhone. Apple co-founder Steve Jobs took Google's development of its own mobile operating system, Android, as a great affront -- and an infringement on Apple's intellectual property. Patent lawsuits are now playing out around the world, and Apple has made a series of moves this year to push Google out of its operating system.

At its Worldwide Developer Conference, Apple showcased a new maps application that will replace the Google-powered app now in use on iOS devices. Removing YouTube from the list of pre-installed apps marked the next step.

But for Google, the YouTube break could represent a significant revenue opportunity. The company says its users watch 1 billion videos a day on mobile devices; enabling ads on their iOS app will help the company reach a large new audience.

How much advertising should users expect? Varela said it will be roughly similar to using YouTube on the Web.

"It's really up to our content owners what they want to do," he said. "But we're not looking to overwhelm."

Not done yet
What's next for the YouTube app? The company is already hinting at some big new features to come. For starters, an iPad version is in the works. YouTube also wants to make movies and TV shows purchased through the Google Play store available on the iOS app.

For now, though, YouTube needs to educate its users that they can no longer rely on Apple to put its app on their iPhones for them. For now, they don't seem worried about it.

"We fundamentally changed the mobile ecosystem with our original partnership," Varela said. "This is just the next phase of it."

How to Recover Windows 8 Password

2012-09-10T20:37:00.001+06:00

"I forgot my windows 8 password on my computer. Can anyone give me some tips to help me recover the lost password?"

When you forget your windows 8 login password, you can use Windows 8 password recovery tool to recover it. If you have ever enabled the hidden administrator account on your computer, there is a best way for you to recover the lost password.

First you need to prepare a password recovery disk burned from a Windows password Recovery program. Pakeysoft Windows Password Recovery can be a good option, which can help you access your computer and let you remove the password. Not only for Windows 8, this program also works well on Windows 7, Vista, XP, 2008, 2003 and 2000.

Download Pakeysoft Windows Password Recovery from here

Step 1. Burn a bootable Windows 8 password recovery disk

After installing the program on your computer, run it. And you'll get the interface as follow.

Then insert a blank CD/DVD or USB flash drive to your computer, and then select your target devices. Click 'Burn to CD/DVD' button or 'Burn to USB' button to start burning.

Step 2. Boot your computer with the Windows 8 recovery disk

To set the computer to boot from CD/DVD-ROM, please refer to How to set computer to boot from CD/DVD-ROM.

To set the computer to boot from USB drive, please refer to How to set computer to boot from USB drive.

Step 3. Recover Windows 8 password

After booting the windows 8 password recovery disk correctly, you are able to recover Windows 8 Administrator Password and other acount password for Windows 8 system.

Select the user name of your target account, and then click "Reset".

Now take out of the disk and restart the computer. Then you can access your computer without being asked for any password.

As You can see, all the process is very easy and quickly! you can free download the trial version of Pakeysoft Windows Password to try to recover lost Windows 8 password.

How To Hack Windows 8 Admin Password: Step by Step

2012-09-10T20:28:00.000+06:00

How To Hack Windows 8 Admin Password or Login Password, Previously I already make a post about How To Hack Windows 7 Admin Password Now I am telling you how to hack Windows 8 admin or login password ,the process is quite same. This method is great if you forgot your Windows 8 admin or user password as you can easily change with new one. Don't need to be panic that you forget password.

Its also good if you want to do some spy on your friend's PC as you hack or crack your friend's Windows 8 PC and change the old password and set a new one, so when he/she will access his/her Windows 8 computer will see that wrong password. Whether you are using Windows 8 developer preview ,consumer preview , release preview or RTM version its work fine. So how to reset or crack Windows 8 password , lets follow me

Step 1. Get a Linux Live Cd

Step 2. Boot the cd

Step 3. Go to C:\Windows\System32

Step 4. Rename "Utilman.exe" file to "Utilman1.exe"

Step 5. Now rename "cmd.exe" file to "Utilman.exe"

Step 6. Restart your PC and remove the cd

Step 7. Now you will a screen like this that is normal

Step 8. Now click on "Ease of access"(left bottom corner of the screen) and cmd.exe will pop up like this

Step 9. Type "net user",without quotes in command prompt it will show all users list

Step 10. Now you have to add a new user so type

net user /add cyberkey ck

here your new username is "cyberkey" and its password is "ck"

Step 11. Now you have to make this user as a administrator ,so type

net localgroup administrators cyberkey /add

Step 12.Restart your pc, and login with your new user here its "cyberkey" , give the password "ck".

Step 13.Now its done ,now you may delete your old user account or change its password from control panel

Step 11.But that's not end, your PC is to totally correct , to make it correct again boot with your Linux cd and go to C:\Windows\System32 folder , now rename "Utilman.exe" to "cmd.exe" and now rename "Utilman1.exe" to "Utilman.exe". That's End.If you like it the share it.

Reset Windows 8 Password Step by Step

2012-09-10T20:11:00.000+06:00

How to reset Windows 8 password?

Have you ever forgotten Windows 8 password? Did you take much time in looking for information online about how to reset Windows 8 password? However, the information should be few but useful. The following article is the one. Read it carefully and learn how to use Anmosoft Windows Password Reset to recover Windows 8 password easily and instantly. Let's look at the simple steps:

Step 1 Create a Windows 8 password reset disk with CD/DVD or USB drive
Step 2 Reset the forgotten Windows 8 password

Step 1 Create a Windows 8 admin password reset disk with CD/DVD or USB drive

1. Download and install Anmosoft Windows Password Reset on a workable computer. Insert a blank CD/DVD or USB drive into the computer and run the installed program.
Note: Backup your important data and files if the CD/DVD or USB drive is not blank.

2. On the start page, choosing the device which you have inserted to burn a Windows 8 password reset disk. Then click Start.

3. Click Yes to confirm burning a Windows 8 password reset disk.

4. Click Close after the disk is burned successfully.

Step 2 Reset the forgotten Windows 8 password

Insert the burned CD/DVD or USB drive into the locked computer and restart. It should be noticed that your locked computer should boot from the disk. If the computer cannot boot from it, please set BIOS to boot from CD/DVD or USB flash drive.

1. Select the target Windows system, then click Next.

2. Choose the user accounts you want to reset password for, click Next to advance the Windows 8 password recovery process.

3. After interface reminds you password is reset successfully, take out the disk, and click Reboot to restart the computer. You can log in the Windows system without passwords.

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Installing Lazarus on MacOS X (Step by Step)

2012-09-10T12:32:00.000+06:00

Installation

This document describes installation on Apple Mac OS X desktops/laptops.

Apple Developer Tools

You need the Apple Developer tools. They can be installed from the original Mac OS X installation disks or downloaded from the Apple Developer Connection (ADC), which requires free registration: http://developer.apple.com/.

Install Packages / Released version

Installation from disk images

Download the three disk images (.dmg files) for fpc, fpcsrc and lazarus from either of the following links:

Open up each disk image and install in this order: 1. fpc 2. fpcsrc 3. Lazarus

After installation the Lazarus application can be found in /Developer/lazarus/, the FPC source files in /usr/local/share/fpcsrc.

If you receive a "Can't find unit Interfaces used by Project1" error on trying to compile a blank form, check the following settings in Lazarus (should be set by default):

Environment | Options

  Lazarus directory: /Developer/Lazarus
  Compiler path: /usr/local/bin/ppc386 (PowerPC Macs: /usr/local/bin/ppcppc)
  FPC Source: /usr/local/share/fpcsrc

Project | Options

  All paths blank
  LCL Widget Type: default (Carbon beta)

Project | Inspector

  Required Packages
     LCL

Note - different versions of Lazarus depend on particular versions of the FreePascal compiler and will not work with other versions.

Another common problem is that the versions of fpc and fpcsrc are different.

This is the easiest way to install Lazarus on Mac OS X.

Installation using fink

To obtain the up-to-date release versions of lazarus (0.9.30) AND freepascal (2.4.4) use fink, a package manager for Mac OS X. The extra bonus of fink is easy installation as well as clean removal of a huge number of other open source software packages, including FreePascal crosscompilers for other processors and systems. The choice for lazarus is between an Aqua (preferred by most) and a gtk2 look of lazarus:

$ fink install lazarus-aqua

$ fink install lazarus-gtk2

This also installs a number of other packages, such as the FreePascal compiler, the lazarus sources, gtk2 libraries and more. At the prompt, whether you want to install these additional packages, simply hit RETURN and go for a coffee. It really takes some time to build all packages, in particular on older Macs.

After installation, Lazarus can be started from the folder /Applications/Fink/. The actual details of fpc and lazarus are in subdirectories of /sw

With both (Aqua AND gtk2) looks, these widget sets for your program are supported on Intel- and PowerPC-Macs:

carbon (Aqua), gtk2, nogui

On Intel-Macs these additional cross platform widget sets are supported:

carbon (Aqua) for powerpc, win32 and wince.

Projects with the gtk1 widget set are also supported on 10.4 and 10.5 through the lazarus-common-gtk1 package. On 10.6, gtk1 libraries are deprecated in general and you have to port your project to the gtk2 or carbon widget set.

Installation using SVN

To get the current development version see below.

Install from Source / Development version

You need the latest stable released FPC installed in order to compile the development version.

Download and install a compiler

Download and install the FPC package: https://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=89339

There are two development versions of the compiler: 2.6.x is stable version without new features - only bug fixes. The unstable version 2.7.x comes with lots of new features but sometimes also with bugs. Best is to download and install fpc 2.6.x. Some daily snapshots can be found here. Keep in mind that these are daily snapshots and that you can have bad luck and get a buggy version. The probability is about 1:30. So if the version is buggy try another day or use the released packages instead.

Download the sources via svn

Note: IF the current SVN of FreePascal can not be compiled using the stable release of FreePascal that comes with the current stable version of Lazarus (FPC 2.6.*), you will need a newer compiler. In order to compile the latest versions of FPC, first install a precompiled 2.6.* series compiler. You can get a compiled version of FPC 2.6.* at http://www.freepascal.org/download.var. Note: only do this if the instructions below do not work.

The sources are kept in a version control system called subversion or short svn:

10.5 and higher already contains svn clients. Users of earlier versions must install SVN for Mac OS X. A good package is provided by Martin Ott. You can also use fink. SVN clients with GUI (graphical user interface) are available from Versiontracker. A quite handy client, which integrates in Finder, is SCPlugin.

Create a directory, where you would like to put the sources. You don't need to be root to do this. Any normal user can do this. First create a directory for fpc

(e.g. /Users/username/freepascal)

then open a terminal and do the following:

[]$ svn co http://svn.freepascal.org/svn/fpc/trunk fpc

This will create a directory called 'fpc', which can be later used in the IDE. Hint: To download/update the latest changes you can simply do

[]$ cd /Users/username/freepascal/fpc
[]$ svn up

Building fpc

[]$ make clean all
[]$ sudo make install

Then download lazarus

[]$ svn co http://svn.freepascal.org/svn/lazarus/trunk lazarus

This will create a directory called 'lazarus'. To update the latest changes:

[]$ cd /Users/username/freepascal/lazarus
[]$ svn up

Building lazarus

[]$ make clean all

Then start lazarus either via command line or by double click in the finder:

 open lazarus.app

Known issues

FPC 2.4.4 has a bug. You can not compile the IDE with the range check flag -Cr.
On OS X 10.4 you have to manually uninstall any previous version before installing a new dmg. Delete the following files and folders:
- /Developer/lazarus
- /Library/Receipts/lazarus.pkg
- /etc/lazarus
- /usr/local/bin/lazbuild

First Steps

The carbon interface has matured and is probably preferred over the gtk2 interface by most users of lazarus:

The carbon IDE looks somewhat nicer, although autosizing does not yet work correctly. Therefore, some dialogs look pretty bad until you enlarge them manually.
Sometimes the blinking cursor vanishes after closing a file. Just switch to another page and back

50 Common Mac Problems Solved (Updated)

2012-09-10T12:24:00.000+06:00

General Mac Problems

The Mac OS is, fundamentally, as trouble-free as operating systems get. But nothing's perfect. Here's what to do when you hit a snag.

1. I want a tabbed finder.

Download the incredibly versatile Path Finder ($40, www.cocoatech.com), which gives you all sorts of features that are missing from the Finder, such as tabs, stacks, bookmarks, and panes. Sounds like fun to us!

Now THIS is the Finder we've always dreamed of. Thanks, Path Finder!

2. I can't print anymore.

This could be caused by a variety of different issues relating to your printer hardware or printer drivers, so you may need to contact the printer manufacturer for more help. But if your Mac is causing the problem, it’s always a good idea to reset your entire printing system by going into your Print & Fax System Preference, right-clicking in the printer list, and choosing Reset Printing System.

3. I travel all over town with my MacBook, and I’m sick of reconfiguring my settings every time I show up at a location I’ve been to before. Why can’t my Mac remember various location settings for me--my default printer, mounted servers, iChat screen name, Bluetooth settings, everything?

Try NetworkLocation ($29, www.networklocationapp.com), which can perform dozens of actions on your Mac whenever you switch to a new location. Best of all, its AutoLocate feature will determine where you are, using the same SkyHook Wireless Wi-Fi Positioning System that your iPhone uses, and it will automatically change all of your settings for you.

If you frequently switch physical locations, NetworkLocation can save you both time and headaches changing your Mac's settings.

4. I forgot my OS X password.

After retyping your password very carefully at least twice to make sure you just didn’t mistype it, you’ll need to haul out your OS X install disk, insert it into your Mac and restart holding down the C button. After selecting your language of choice, in the menubar, select Utilities > Reset Password. Follow the directions and there you go. Just try not to get a lobotomy after resetting it!

5. My CD or DVD is stuck in the optical drive and won’t come out when I press Eject.

After holding down the eject button for several seconds to no avail, restart your Mac and hold down the primary button on your mouse--the trackpad button will work as well if you’re on a MacBook--and during startup the disk should eject.

6. My Mac is not recognizing devices plugged in to one of my USB ports.

First, make sure your Mac’s firmware is up to date--check Software Update and the Apple Support Downloads page (support.apple.com/downloads/) and install any firmware updates you find for your machine.

If nothing happens, turn off your Mac, unplug the power cable, disconnect all peripherals, and let it sit for five minutes. Plug it back in, reconnect the keyboard and mouse, turn it back on, and try the USB ports again.

Check the Support Downloads page for firmware updates for your Mac.

If they’re still unresponsive, you will need to reset the PRAM (parameter RAM) and NVRAM (nonvolatile RAM), which stores some system and device settings that your Mac accesses on startup. Shut your Mac down. Then position your fingers above the Command, Option, P, and R keys on your keyboard. Turn the Mac on, then immediately press and hold those four keys before you see the gray screen. Keep them pressed until the Mac restarts again and you hear the startup chime for the second time. Then let ’em go. When your Mac is finished starting up, check those pesky USB ports.

If they’re still not behaving, there’s one more thing you can try before making a Genius Bar appointment: resetting the SMC, or system management controller. Directions for resetting the SMC on your MacBook Pro are found at support.apple.com/kb/HT1411. Instructions for all other Macs are linked from support.apple.com/kb/HT1894.

In Search Of...Search Solutions

Leopard makes finding files and data on your Mac relatively trouble-free, but when it comes to search, there are improvements and tricks you can apply to make it even better. Here are two solutions to common search problems we hear about from a fair number of Mac users.

7. My Spotlight results have stopped working reliably.

If it’s a single non-Apple program that isn’t showing up properly in your Spotlight results, try turning off and on the Spotlight indexing in that particular app.

If you’re still getting Spotlight results for an app that you got rid of a while ago, you may not have completely deleted all of the data or databases that are associated with that program.

Spotless gives you a nice GUI for managing, deleting, and rebuilding your Spotlight indexes.

If it’s an Apple program--or your entire Mac--that isn’t working properly in Spotlight, try re-indexing your whole hard drive by going into the Spotlight System Preference, clicking on the Privacy tab, then dragging your hard drive into the list. Wait a moment, and then remove your hard drive from the list again.

If you’re still having problems, you may need to bring out the big guns by using Spotless ($17, www.fixamac.net), a Spotlight index-management tool that can help fix most Spotlight problems.

8. I need more power, flexibility, and customizability with my Spotlight searches and Spotlight results.

Get HoudahSpot ($25, www.houdah.com), which lets you create extremely detailed search requests and customize the results to your liking.

HoudahSpot handles Spotlight searches with much more flexability than Apple's built-in Spotlight search.

3 Essential Utilities

Three more Mac problems solved--before they happen!

9. Disk Warrior

($100, www.alsoft.com) This is a great preventative maintenance tool for rebuilding your Mac's directory and keeping your mac running quickly and smoothly. It's also a great emergency tool for repairing disks that have missing files or will no longer mount.

10. Cocktail

($15, www.maintain.se/cocktail/index.php). This general all-purpose utility will clean the caches on your machine, run the UNIX maintenance scripts, unlock hidden features of your Mac, and much more.

11. SuperDuper

($28, www.shirt-pocket.com). This disk cloning utility is great for backing up or transferring all the data on your entire computer to a fully bootable state.

Email and Web Problems

We know you spend most of your time in front of a Mac online or pounding out email. Here's how to answer when trouble comes knocking.

12. I use a webmail client to check email, but every time I click on an email link, it launches Apple Mail instead.

You can set up Apple Mail to access your webmail account using IMAP or POP (check with your webmail provider for instructions on how to do this; some charge a fee for this service), or you can install the program Webmailer (free, www.belkadan.com/webmailer), which lets you set any webmail site as your default email program.

We set up Webmailer to take us to Yahoo's webmail system whenever we click on an email link.

If you use Gmail, you have a few additional choices: You can install Google Notifier (free, toolbar.google.com/gmail-helper) and set that to your default email client in Mail’s preferences. Or you can use the outstanding Mailplane ($25, www.mailplaneapp.com), which provides many more features than the Gmail website.

13. I can receive but not send email messages.

Outgoing email messages are typically sent over the Internet using TCP port numbers 25, 465, or 587. However, in an effort to reduce spam, some ISPs and firewalls are set up to severely restrict the use of those ports. For example, AT&T is notorious for blocking port 25 for its DSL customers, unless you’re sending email with the AT&T email address assigned to your DSL modem. If you’re using AT&T (or another service provider that has similar restrictions), call the technical support number and request that they unblock port 25 for you. If you don’t control the Internet access where you are located, contact your email host to see if they have an alternate port that you can send email on. You can specify alternate port numbers in your email app’s account settings. If all else fails, you should be able to send email through your webmail system until you can physically get yourself to a different location that has no restrictions.

Our Web-hosting company, hostbaby.com, allows us to send email messages over alternate port 2525, which typically bypasses any firewall restrictions that have been put in place.

14. When I reply to or forward an email, the original message isn't entirely quoted in my reply--sometimes just the header and a few characters are quoted.

If you used your mouse to highlight some text in the original email, and then you clicked on forward or reply, only the words that you selected will be quoted in your new email. To override this behavior in Mail (it can’t be overridden in Entourage), go into Mail’s Preferences, click on the Composing button, and you can set it to include all of the original message. If the problem still happens after this, your Mail preferences might be corrupt. Quit Mail, and trash the file located at yourhomefolder/Library/Preferences/com.apple.mail.plist. Also try upgrading to Snow Leopard, which makes Mail more reliable in general.

The Composing preference in Mail ensures that your replies and forwards will always quote the original email message in their entirety.

15. I want to send an email later, not now.

Each email client handles this slightly differently.

In Entourage, choose Message > Send Message Later or click on the Send Later button. (In Entourage 2008, you’ll need to add the Send Later button to your toolbar by choosing View > Customize Toolbar from any outgoing message.) Your messages will queue up in your outbox, and then you can send them all at once by creating an Entourage schedule (Tools > Schedules) or by clicking the Send & Receive button.

In Thunderbird, choose File > Send Later. Your messages will queue up in the Unsent folder until you choose File > Send Unsent Messages.

The Send Later Extension lets you schedule your outgoing messages in Thunderbird.

The Send Later Extension for Thunderbird (free, www.unsignedbyte.com/?page_id=4) lets you schedule an exact date and time in the future to send your message.

Surprisingly, Mail provides no ability to send messages later. You could take all your accounts offline (Mailbox > Take All Accounts Offline) before clicking on the Send button, in which case your messages disappear until you quit and relaunch Mail to find a temporary outbox with your messages sitting in them. Or, to schedule emails for a later delivery time that you specify, install the Schedule Delivery script which is a part of Mail Scripts (donations requested, homepage.mac.com/aamann/).

Finally, LetterMeLater (free, www.lettermelater.com) offers another way to schedule emails to be sent at a later time.

16. I have multiple folders entitled Drafts, Sent, Junk, or Trash for my IMAP email account.

Setting up an IMAP account can be a little tricky. After typing your valid account settings into your email program, there are two additional steps:

First, you’ll need to set the proper IMAP path prefix (sometimes called the “root folder” or IMAP server directory) in your account settings. For example, Gmail’s IMAP Path Prefix is [Gmail].

Defining your IMAP server's root folder is an often-forgotten step when setting up an IMAP email account.

In Entourage, you set this on the Options tab of your IMAP’s account settings. In Thunderbird, click the Advanced button on the Server Settings tab. In Mail, this is on the Advanced tab of your IMAP’s account settings.

Then you’ll need to designate which folders on the server should be used for storing your drafts, sent messages, trash, and junk. In Entourage, you set this on the Advanced tab of your IMAP’s account settings. In Thunderbird, this is done in the Copies & Folders section of your account settings. In Mail, go out to your main viewer window and select a folder on the server (in the left-hand margin, underneath the IMAP account name), then choose Mailbox > Use This Mailbox For.

17. Whenever I address an outgoing email, I get unwanted email addresses for people who aren't in my address book.

Most email clients keep track of addresses that you’ve emailed to in the past and will suggest those addresses to you in the future when you start to type the same characters. You can turn off this feature in Entourage and Thunderbird by going into their preferences. In Entourage, this is found on the Compose tab. In Thunderbird, this is on the Composition > Addressing tab. You can’t turn off this feature in Mail, but you can clear the list from time-to-time by selecting Window > Previous Recipients, selecting the names and clicking Remove from List.

In Mail, you have complete control over your Previous Recipients list.

18. When I email long Web links to others, they sometimes get broken up onto multiple lines and don't work correctly.

Try putting angle brackets (<>) around long URLs to help them travel safely across the Internet without “breaking.” Or you turn to TinyURL (free, www.tinyurl.com), which will turn those long URLs into, well, tiny URLs!

19. I wish Safari's built-in search field worked with more websites than just Google.

You may want to switch to Firefox, which has the built-in ability to customize its search field with any number of search engines that you specify. Otherwise, check out the Safari plug-ins Saft ($12, haoli.dnsalias.com) or Glims (free, machangout.com), both of which let you customize Safari’s Google search field. And one of our favorite utilities, iSeek ($15, www.ambrosiasw.com) lets you add a global customizable search field to your Mac’s menubar that works with any Web browser.

iSeek places a fully customizable search field in our menubar at all times.

20. I want to filter inappropriate websites so my kids can't access them.

Although Mac OS X has built-in parental controls that you can turn on for individual accounts, you can gain more control by purchasing software like ContentBarrier ($50, www.intego.com) or Net Nanny ($39.99 a year, www.netnanny.com). Even better, we’ve discovered that one of the quickest, easiest, and most effective ways of filtering all the computers in your entire household is to switch your DNS servers to the free OpenDNS servers (free, www.opendns.com).

ContentBarrier is one of many options you have for blocking websites on your Mac.

21. My Internet connection is slow.

That’s a tricky one. A sluggish Net connection could be caused by any number of things, so here are a few troubleshooting tips to start with:

Try resetting Safari (Safari > Reset Safari). Then, try a different Web browser to see if the problem happens there as well. You may also want to uninstall any Internet plug-ins that you have installed recently.

Next, check your upload and download speeds at www.speakeasy.net/speedtest and see if you’re getting the speeds you’re paying for. If not, try power cycling both your modem and router, such as your Airport Extreme. Turn off or unplug the device, let it sit powered off for several minutes, then plug it in or switch it on again.

Our latest speed test from Speakeasy.net shows us that we're not currently getting the full upload speeds for which we've been paying the big bucks!

If these methods don’t address the slowdown, try plugging your modem directly into your Mac using an Ethernet cable to see if the problem goes away. If so, your router may be the problem. If you’re using an Airport Extreme or Airport Express, launch Airport Utility to see if there is a firmware upgrade available. If so, install the firmware upgrade and see if that helps.

If not, your Mac could be the problem--you may need to perform an Archive and Install of your operating system, which is one of your options on the Mac OS X Leopard Installation DVD.

And it’s always possible that your modem or Internet line is the problem too, in which case you should call your ISP’s technical support number.

Photo Problems

These solutions to common photo issues will make you want to say "cheese."

22. I need to quickly resize an image and make some color corrections to it, but I can't afford Photoshop and don't really want to learn how to use it.

Preview has the built-in ability to resize images and adjust colors. Open up your image in Preview and select Tools > Adjust Size or Adjust Color.

This image-size adjustment dialog box is from Preview, not Photoshop!

23. I want to email photos from iPhoto through my webmail account by clicking on iPhoto's Email button.

Even if you’ve installed Webmailer, as mentioned in problem #12, the email button in iPhoto will only work with four email clients: AOL, Eudora, Entourage, and Mail.

However, if you use Gmail, you’re in luck because Mailplane ($25, www.mailplaneapp.com) installs an iPhoto plug-in that lets you click on iPhoto’s Email button and send your messages through your Gmail account.

In any dialog box, you can activate QuickLook when browsing your iPhoto Library by selecting a photo and pressing the spacebar.

Otherwise, go into your webmail program, and attach photos using the standard method. Leopard’s dialog boxes give you the ability to browse through your iPhoto library, and they even let you use QuickLook by clicking on a photo and pressing the spacebar.

24. I want to use iPhoto '09 to export photos to Facebook, but there are too many problems with it.

Forget about using iPhoto ’09’s poorly implemented Facebook “integration.” Instead, use the outstanding Facebook Exporter for iPhoto (free, developers.facebook.com/iphoto).

Use Facebook Exporter for iPhoto to tag, add captions to, and upload your Facebook photos right from within iPhoto.

25. I created a PDF file with lots of embedded photos in it, but now the file is way too large to email.

Open up the large PDF file in Preview and select File > Save As. Where it says Quartz Filter, choose Reduce File Size, then click Save. Voilà! You’ve now saved a much smaller version of your PDF file, which will be easier to email.

Choose this Quartz Filter in Preview to reduce the size (and quality) of large PDF files so you can email them without choking your email server.

For even more control over the resulting quality of PDF size reduction--and to batch-process multiple PDF files at once--try PDFshrink ($35, www.apago.com).

If you still can’t get the file small enough for your needs, try a file-sending service such as YouSendIt (www.yousendit.com).

26. Somebody emailed me a PDF file with lots of embedded photos in it, and I need to extract the photos from the file.

File Juicer ($18, www.echoone.com) will extract images, sounds, and more from any filetype.

File Juicer can extract all these types of files out of other files.

Office/iWork Problems

Work smarter not harder with these troubleshooting tips for common productivity apps.

27. I created an awesome slide show in Keynote, but I have to present it on a PC. I tried exporting it to Microsoft PowerPoint format, but I lost my transitions, effects, transparencies, gradients, and more--basically, all the cool stuff.

Export your Keynote file to a QuickTime movie instead. As long as the PC has QuickTime installed on it (which it should, if it has iTunes installed), you’ll be able to play back your presentation with all of its awesomeness intact. If the PC doesn’t have QuickTime, download it for free from www.apple.com/quicktime.

With the "Fixed Timing" option, we can set our QuickTime movie to automatically advance to the next slide on a regular interval.

When you export your movie, you have several options for how it should advance from one slide to the next. For example, if you set it to manually advance, you simply have to press the spacebar on the PC to move to the next slide.

28. I’ve included presenter notes (View > Show Presenter Notes) in a Keynote slide show, but when I play or rehearse the slide show, the notes don’t show up onscreen.

In Keynote’s preferences, click on the Presenter Display button, and check the boxes for Notes and “Use alternate display to view presenter information.” Now your notes will show up when you play or rehearse your slide show.

This checkbox lets you toggle between mirrored displays and dual displays.

However, if you start seeing your notes on both your computer screen and the projector’s screen, your computer is set to mirrored (instead of dual) displays. You can toggle these display modes while the projector is connected to your Mac by launching System Preferences, choosing Display > Arrangement, and deselecting the Mirror Displays checkbox.

29. I use Office 2008 to create Word, Excel, or PowerPoint files, but my Mac-using colleagues can’t open the files because they’re using Office 2004.

TextEdit can open and edit Word 2008 files. And if your colleagues have iWork ’09 installed, they can work with all of your Office 2008 files in Pages, Numbers, or Keynote.

Otherwise, you’ll need to save the file in an earlier file format. Choose File > Save As and select the format that corresponds to Office 97–2004. You can also set this older format as the default in your preferences for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

Choose the .doc format to avoid compatibility issues with people using earlier versions of Microsoft Word.

Alternatively, your colleagues can install Microsoft’s Open XML File Format Converter (free, www.microsoft.com/mac/downloads), which will convert your Office 2008 files into a format that Office 2004 can read.

Syncing Problems

Data syncing can be particularly stressful since we need access to info anywhere these days. We've got solutions.

30. I want to sync some--but not all--of my iCal calendars across my Macs.

Don’t use MobileMe to sync, which always synchronizes all of your calendars. Instead, use BusySync ($25, www.busymac.com) or BusyCal ($40, www.busymac.com), which both give you an incredible amount of syncing options.

BusyMac's products are true champions when it comes to publishing and subscribing selected calendars without any dedicated servers.

31. I want to synchronize my iCal calendars and Address Book on my Mac to Outlook on a PC.

Sign up for MobileMe ($99 a year, www.apple.com), which will keep all of your Macs and PCs (and iPhones!) in sync with each other.

Spanning Sync effortlessly syncs your calendars and contacts to Google.

Or, you can use Google Calendar and Google Contacts as a conduit. On the Mac side, you’ll need Spanning Sync ($25/year or $65/one-time purchase, spanningsync.com). On the PC side, you’ll need Google Apps Sync ($50/year, tools.google.com/dlpage/gappssync).

32. I keep getting duplicate entries on my iCal calendar.

Sounds like you’re trying to sync your Entourage calendar with iCal. There’s a known bug with Entourage that causes repeating events to multiply out of control in iCal. We don’t know of any long-term solution at this time except to ditch Entourage’s calendar and stick to iCal for your calendaring needs. To do this, uncheck the box for syncing events in Entourage’s Preferences (on the Sync Services pane). To erase iCal dupes, try iCal Cleaner (free, www.busymac.com).

33. I’m getting two of each calendar entry on my iPhone.

You may be trying to sync your calendars through both iTunes and MobileMe. You’ll need to choose one method or the other, not both. If you’re syncing wirelessly through MobileMe, then go into your iPhone settings within iTunes and uncheck all of your calendars there.

The exception to this rule is iCal’s Birthdays calendar (enabled in iCal’s preferences, this calendar pulls birthdays from your Address Book), which can only be synced through iTunes, so it must remain checked in iTunes.

34. My U.S. Holidays and other Internet-subscribed iCal calendars are not syncing between my Mac and my iPhone.

Any Internet-subscribed calendars must be resubscribed to directly from your iPhone. You can manually set up the server on your iPhone by going to Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars > Add Account > Other > Calendars.

You must resubscribe to your iCal holiday calendars on your iPhone all over again.

Or, you can automatically subscribe to a calendar by using Safari on your iPhone to choose from Apple’s extensive selection of calendars at www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/calendars.

35. iTunes no longer launches automatically when I attach my iPod or iPhone to my computer.

If your iPhone or iPod is very low on power or if the battery is fully depleted, it can take up to 10 minutes to appear under Devices in iTunes.

Otherwise, you may have unchecked the box in iTunes for your device that says “Automatically sync when this iPhone/iPod is connected” or “Open iTunes when this iPod is attached.”

You may have also removed the iTunesHelper application from your Login Items in your Account System Preferences, which is required to automatically launch iTunes. You can get this back by reinstalling iTunes (www.apple.com/itunes) or by manually dragging iTunesHelper into the Login Items. iTunesHelper can be found by right-clicking on iTunes in the Finder and choosing Show Package Contents, then going to Contents > Resources.

36. I want to synchronize files between two computers.

There are many different programs available to help you with this task, but our favorite is ChronoSync ($40, www.econtechnologies.com). ChronoSync can automatically mount remote servers, wake your local Mac from sleep, schedule your synchronizations, archive backup copies of your files before syncing, and even give you a list of proposed changes before it makes any of them.

Synchronizing files between two different computers is as simple as drag-and-drop with ChronoSync.

While you can use ChronoSync to synchronize to any type of volume or folder, if you specifically want to sync to another computer, you may want to additionally purchase ChronoAgent for an extra $10. ChronoAgent lets you communicate directly with a remote Mac faster than using AFP or SMB, and you gain full root access, so you can copy anything without any restrictions.

37. I turned on MobileMe syncing on my iPhone, but nothing is syncing to my Mac or Me.com.

It’s possible that the MobileMe servers aren’t communicating properly with your iPhone. An Apple support rep recently admitted to us that this is an extremely common problem that MobileMe users may experience every few months until Apple increases the reliability of its MobileMe syncing servers. So you may want to keep these instructions handy for future reference.

First, find out if MobileMe sees your iPhone at all. Activate Find My iPhone on your iPhone (Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars > your me.com account > Find My iPhone). Then, from a computer (not your iPhone), go to your MobileMe account page at https://secure.me.com/yourusername. Click on Find My iPhone to see if the MobileMe website sees your phone. If not, try turning off your iPhone and turning it back on again. If the MobileMe site still doesn’t see your phone, try deleting your MobileMe account on your iPhone and re-creating it again.

We feel like Big Brother is watching us with Find My iPhone's crosshairs centered directly on our house!

Once Me.com sees your iPhone, try adding an event or a contact to your phone and see if the change shows up on your MobileMe calendar (www.me.com/calendar) or address book (www.me.com/contacts) within a few minutes.

If not, you will probably have to reset all of your sync data on Me.com with information from your Mac’s iCal and Address Book. Make a mental note of any recent unsynced changes you’ve made on your iPhone, because you’re going to lose them in this process. Also, sign out of Me.com. Go into the MobileMe System Preference on your Mac, select the Sync tab, click on Advanced, and then click Reset Sync Data. Click on the right arrow so that you are replacing all sync info on MobileMe with “info from this computer.”

Log back into Me.com and verify that it now has your current information for contacts and calendars. If not, you will have to reset the SyncServices database on your Mac. Apple has instructions on this process at support.apple.com/kb/TS1627.

But before following those instructions, be sure to do two things on your Mac: First, repair your permissions using Disk Utility (Applications/Utilities), and, second, repair your keychain using Keychain Access (in Disk Utility, pull down from the Keychain Access menu and select Keychain First Aid). After that, try syncing again from the MobileMe System Preference pane.

This is how it should look when you're about to overwrite information on the MobileMe website with information from your Mac.

Once Me.com has your current information, you are ready to go back to your iPhone. On your iPhone, go to Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars > Fetch New Data. Turn Push off, then completely turn off your phone for 30 seconds. Turn your phone back on and re-enable push. Then, go to Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars > your Me.com account and turn off and on each one of the sliders for the information that you’re trying to sync (Contacts, Calendars, Bookmarks, etc).

Wait several minutes, and hopefully all your current information will reappear in your calendar and contacts on your iPhone.

If not, you will probably need to have a live chat with a MobileMe support agent. Go to www.apple.com/support/mobileme. Choose any of the troubleshooting options underneath Syncing with MobileMe in the left-hand margin, and a Chat Now button will appear.

How to Fix Three of the Most Common System Problems Without Restoring a Backup

2012-09-10T12:16:00.000+06:00

Corrupt system files, account lockouts, and accidentally deleted data are three scary computer problems that often send people running for their backup drives. While restoring a backup may technically fix things, a full system backup is usually a very time-consuming overkill in these cases, and nobody likes the time-warp effect of restoring one (e.g., if your last full backup ran a week ago). When these problems occur, fixing them can be far simpler than you might think.

Problem 1: Corrupted System Files - Unable to Load the Operating System

A sudden power outage or system crash can corrupt files that are part of your operating system's essential guts. When these things happen, people who have backups tend to just jump straight to them, but then we're at the time warp problem—if you've already done a week's worth of work since the last backup, that data is lost. Instead, you should first attempt to repair or restore just the system files.

Both Windows and Mac OS X have these capabilities either built in, or on their install discs. Good preparedness doesn't just mean making backups, but also making sure these discs are safe—they can save you some major heartache.

Solution:

Windows: Corrupt system files happen a bit more frequently in Windows, but it's not difficult to fix most of the time. You should make use of Windows' built-in System Restore, which basically makes daily, miniature backups of your system. It doesn't touch your data—it just backs up system files, so it's absolutely perfect for these sorts of problems. If you're able to boot your PC into Safe Mode (pressing F8 while booting up should do the trick), you can find System Restore in the System Properties settings. If your PC won't boot all the way into Safe Mode, then you'll need your Windows install disc. Booting into that disc will give you the option to use System Restore right on the spot. Since it runs on a daily basis, you can even choose how recent of a snapshot you want (just in case you think the problem started a couple of days before everything stopped working).

Mac: For Mac, it's pretty common that, instead of corrupted files, that you might have broken permissions or other file system issues. You can correct a lot of these sorts of issues by rebooting into Safe Mode (reboot the computer while holding down the Shift key). Booting into Safe Mode will force checking and error correction on the file system, delete cached files, and start the computer in a limited working state that doesn't include anything but the basics. Once fully booted into Safe Mode, you can reboot the computer normally again, and hope that the problem was taken care of in that automated process.

If it wasn't fixed by that, you can use your OS X install disc to run Disk Utility and try to repair the disk. Don't worry, it's automatic, too. Boot into the install disc by inserting it into the drive, and rebooting the computer while holding down the C key (once it starts booting the installation disc you can let go of the key). After it loads and has you choose a language, click on the Installer menu at the top of the screen, and select Disk Utility. Inside Disk Utility, choose the tab for First Aid, find your hard disk in the sidebar and expand it to see the partitions, then select yours (usually named something like "Macintosh HD"). Click the Repair button, and then wait patiently for it to finish. If all goes well, it should give a pleasant report that the disk has been repaired. If, instead, you get a notice about corrupted files, then you can take the final step and restore your system.

Restoring all system files in OS X is actually pretty simple, because you just reinstall the OS. Assuming everything goes alright during the installation (basically, as long as the hard drive's healthy), this will only replace the system files, leaving your personal files untouched and as you left them.

Problem 2: You Can't Log In - Either You Forgot Your Password, or it Got Changed on You

If it's just an issue of a forgotten password that's left you unable to log in (or an unfunny prank by someone who knows what it is), you can reset it pretty easily (and get back to work without hassling with restoring a backup):

Solution:

Windows: For Windows users, you need to take action prior to losing access to the account (which means you should do it right now). Go to your Control Panel and select "User Accounts and Family Safety," then click on User Accounts. There you'll find the option to create a Password Reset Disk—just follow the instructions and keep it somewhere safe. If you lose access to your account, you can use this to get back in with a brand new password.

Mac: For Mac OS X, boot into the install disc and choose your language, then choose "Reset Password" from the Utilities menu. If that sounds too easy, it's because it probably is—any OS X install disc for the same version installed on the computer will work.

If something more mysterious is going on with your user account, you need a way to get back into your system to try grabbing some of your more recent files, and to investigate what caused the issue. As a safety net, you can keep a separate administrator account on the system, just so you can get back in and check things out. If something malicious caused the lockout, your secondary account should be able to delete the offending files. If not, Windows users can use System Restore, and Mac users can drop in a fresh OS X system install.

Problem 3: Lost Data - Or when You Accidentally Delete Your Life's Work

If you accidentally delete a large chunk of your data—but not anything that affects the OS itself—then a full system restore is definitely an option, but it should be the last one you turn to.

Solution:

Partial Restore From Backup: If you've taken the time to ensure that your backups are accessible, specifically for instances like this, you can simply grab the now lost data from the most recent backup you made. If your backups are compressed into enormous archives, then they're not exactly quick or easy to work with in a case like this. Making full backups that are basically mirrored copies of your hard drive is far more useful, since you can use them for any amount of restoring that may be needed.

Use a Rescue CD: A rescue CD, like Disk Drill for Mac or previously mentioned Recuva for Windows, can scan your drive for deleted files and restore them if possible. It's usually not a problem if it hasn't been very long since they were deleted.

Save Redundantly: Using a rescue CD has a decent chance of working, but it's easier to preemptively cover the possibly of accidental deletions by saving important files to two different locations (preferably on two different hard drives), or by keeping a daily backup of your most important data. It's not practical in any way to back up your entire system every day, but it's not too much of a hassle to back up a few critical files—like your My Documents folder. If your daily work is seriously important, it'd be best to practice both methods, and invest in a small external hard drive since it can hold both your small daily backups, and also serve as the space to use for double-saving important files.

Cloud Storage: This is when it's also a good idea to have a backup plan for your backup plan. Use cloud storage services like the beloved Dropbox for important files, use a service like Flickr or Picasa Web Albums for your photos (or even store them as regular files in a service like SugarSync). Amazon Cloud Drive even allows you to store 5GB worth of music files without buying anything. You don't have to pay a thing if you use multiple free plans and spread your data across them.

By Matthew Rogers

How To Fix Common Mac OS X Problems Without Rebooting

2012-09-10T12:08:00.001+06:00

There's lots of common OS X problems and situations that can be overcome with out a single reboot required. Here's how.

There are those who simply never shut down — people who are so adverse to rebooting their machines they do everything in their power to avoid it. But energy concerns aside, there are tons of valid reasons for doing so. Some prefer a persistent workspace, while others might run home servers. For these people, continuous uptime is an must. But driver updates or stubborn apps are all it takes to bring your system to a reboot-worthy halt.

License to Kill Tasks

OS X is a relatively stable operating system, but isn't without its faults. On occasion, the Dock may freeze, or your menubar might crash — and there's simply no way to force close these processes like normal apps. Terminal, however, makes it easy to regain control.

Dock or virtual desktop type...

killall -KILL Dock

If the menubar disappears or stops responding...

killall -KILL SystemUIServer

And finally, to force close Finder (should the usual GUI approach fail)...

killall -KILL Finder

Depending on how your Mac is setup, you may require administrator privileges. If that's the case, simply include "sudo" before each of the above commands, and type in your password when asked.

Force Close Unruly Apps

Command + Option + Escape. However, it only applies to those applications that run from the Dock, excluding the likes of Dropbox or Last.FM that choose to live in the menubar instead. Should any of your background apps freeze, you'll need to take a different approach to shut them down.

Activity Monitor is found in your Utilities folder, and lists all of your Mac's currently running processes — including those missing from the force close GUI. From here, it's a simpler matter of identifying problem processes and killing them as needed, minus the usual reboot.

Command Line Software Update

To list all currently available software packages, type...

sudo softwareupdate -l

And to install all available updates, type...

sudo softwareupdate -i -a

Have any more tips and tricks for an always-on Mac? Be sure to share them below in the comments!

Image via Flickr user The Ticket Collector.

By Matt Braga

History of the Gopher Protocol (Pre-Technology of HTTP)

2012-09-09T14:39:00.000+06:00

What is Gopher? (in an internet context )

Gopher is a protocol system, which in advance of the World Wide Web, allowed server based text files to be hierarchically organised and easily viewed by end users who accessed the server using Gopher applications on remote computers. Initially Gopher browsers could only display text-based files before developments such as HyperGopher, which were able to handle simple graphic formats though they were never used on a widespread basis as by this time the World Wide Web and its Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) were gaining in popularity, and had similar and more extensive functions.

The origins of the Gopher protocol

The Gopher protocol and original Gopher viewer application were first developed at the University of Minnesota in the early 1990’s as part of the drive to make use of the Internet to enable the simple sharing of documents with people who could be located in institutions on opposite sides of the country or even the world, and to have those documents organised so that similar / related pages would be easily accessible. The value of the Gopher system was enhanced by the development of two systems known as Veronica and Jughead which allowed a user to search across resources stored in Gopher file hierarchies on a global basis. As for the naming of the system, the University of Minnesota sports teams were called the ‘Golden Gophers’ and the sports mascot was thus a large gopher, it has been said that the protocol was named in honour of the mascot, and also as in an assistant who's sent to ‘go for’ things.

What happened to it?

By the mid 1990s the World Wide Web was growing at a huge rate, and given that the Web’s Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) and its browser Mosaic could match the functions of the Gopher protocol and additionally offer added functions such as hyper linking from within HTML files which brought together related pages more efficiently than Gopher, there was no longer a compelling reason to choose the Gopher system. Another advantage the early Web had over Gopher was the decision of the University of Minnesota not to definitively rule out the option of exercising its intellectual property rights over the Gopher protocol, for any other organisation deciding whether to devote time, effort, and expense to adopting one of the systems the possibility of getting locked into a technology that they could then find themselves being charged for was good reason to prefer the World Wide Web. Most of the files and databases that had been available on Gopher were converted into HTTP compatible formats and made available on the Web, though for the interested it is still possible to access the Gopher root directory at the University of Minnesota and a few other places, but the vast majority of the other Gopher servers on the Net have since gone offline.

Understanding OSI Model (Network Models)

2012-09-09T14:33:00.000+06:00

I have to assume that after reading the title to this week's article you probably let out a low, discerning groan of displeasure. Of all the networking topics that I've ever taught, the OSI model is the one that will generate looks of angst and torture on the faces of students. Some simply tune out and play solitaire, while others shake their heads in the familiar "not this thing again". Still others pretend that there's no time like right now to catch a half-hour of shut-eye. One thing that has never happened is someone's eyes lighting up and them shouting "I love the OSI model!". The reason for this is simple. This is often the first thing that people are ever taught when it comes to networking, and it was probably explained in such a way that they didn't understand it to begin with. A theoretical model is a terrible introduction to the world of networking. The good news for me is that most of you probably already have experience in the field, and will hopefully be able to appreciate how important network models really are.

The OSI model was designed by the International Organization for Standardization as a model for helping different systems communicate. Its important to note than back in the early days of networking, you would usually be tied into a single vendor, since their systems could only communicate with like systems, and multi-vendor networks made life a huge hassle. Back then, you generally bought all IBM or all DEC equipment - once a vendor got that first sale, they knew you were pretty much locked in long term. While good for the vendor, this certainly handcuffed the customer in terms of their ability to make choices based on what best met their needs. The OSI model was developed as an architectural framework to allow different systems to communicate. It is not a set of protocols or hard and fast rules. Instead, it acts as a set of guidelines for how network communication should take place, which different sections of the model outlining the roles and responsibilities of each section.

So why take this sectional or layered approach? Well, by making each layer responsible for a different part of the communications process, we make it such that a particular portion can be changed without affecting the other independent parts. So why should you care? Because the OSI model is actually less theoretical than you think. We're ultimately going to take a look at how a packet is built, and this related directly to the model itself. What starts off as data has to somehow be transmitted over the network, meaning that information has to be added to account for the network technologies in use, the addressing and routing of packets, the reliability of the transfer, the actual way data is formatted, how the process is initiated, and so forth. The OSI model actually maps to the packet generation process, and if you always keep that in mind, you'll be well on your way to truly understanding how network communication takes place. Without this knowledge, you might as well forget the whole networking career thing, because this is fundamentally the single most important networking concept you'll ever learn. Yup, ever more important than subnetting…

Every model has a different purpose. The Cisco hierarchical network design model is not concerned with the actual communication process between systems, but rather how network systems should be designed to ensure that the network is designed efficiently and effectively. This model will be covered in the next article in the series.

The OSI Model

Most of you are probably already familiar with the concept of the OSI model and its 7 layers. Each of those layers has a responsibility, important not only conceptually but also in reality. The 7 layers of the OSI model are numbered from bottom to top as follows:

Layer 7 = Application Layer

Layer 6 = Presentation Layer

Layer 5 = Session Layer

Layer 4 = Transport Layer

Layer 3 = Network Layer

Layer 2 = Data Link Layer

Layer 1 = Physical Layer

It is important to know the order and names of the layers above. To make things easy, I usually suggest creating a mnemonic to remember them. The phrase that I originally learned was All People Seem To Need Data Processing (APSTNDP), with each word representing a layer. In the beginning remembering the model can be tricky, but once you truly understand it, you'll never need to think about it again.

The function of the layers needs to be outlined, and you've probably heard this all a hundred times before. The important thing is that we can ultimately relate it all to the packet creation process, which we'll do shortly.

Application Layer - The application layer is the top level of the OSI model. Put simply, this is the layer where users actually interact with applications that create the data that will be sent over the network. Imagine you're using a web browser. You type in www.2000trainers.com, and magically a whole lot of data comes your way. The web browser doesn't participate in the actual obtaining of the data. It simple makes a request (this part is data) saying ‘hey, I need to view this certain web page' the lower layers actually take care of the rest of the request, and making sure that the data requested is actually passed back to the web browser. What the browser is more specifically doing is making a request that a web server will understand - an application on another system. Examples of application-layer programs include web browsers, ftp programs, telnet, email, and so forth. The user interacts with these directly.

Presentation Layer - Layer 6 of the OSI model is concerned with the actual format that the data is presented in. It is important to note that different systems have different ways of formatting data, and in order to ‘see' things properly, the systems have to agree on a way that data will be displayed. For example, data is often encoded using different schemes, such as ASCII, EBCIDC or UNICODE. If one system formats data using a scheme that the other doesn't understand, you're might just be staring a screen full of unrecognisable characters, and that wouldn't do you much good. This layer is home to a number of data presentation standards that you might already be familiar with, including JPG, GIF, and MPEG. However, this layer is also usually responsible for data encryption and compression.

Session Layer - Layer 5 of the OSI model is one that people always seem to have trouble with, mainly because in reality, protocols suites are often developed such that they don't map directly to the OSI model. The responsibility of this layer is to create, manage, and terminate communication sessions between systems. Think of the session layer as a coordinator of communication between systems and you would be on the right track. A variety of protocols exist at the session layer, including Remote Procedure Calls (RPCs), the Network File System (NFS), SQL, and the AppleTalk Zone Information Protocol (ZIP).

Transport Layer - Layer 4 of the OSI model brings us to a place where the actual roles and responsibilities start to get a little more concrete for people. Its responsibilities include segmenting data that comes from the upper layers, establishing a connection between end-to-end systems that defines the parameters of the connection, and ensuring that data actually gets to its destination in the correct order and error free. One way that it does this is by requiring acknowledgements from the receiver for each packet transmitted. Generally, if the packets sent don't get to the destination, the sender will never receive an acknowledgement, and will resend the data. At this layer, systems also agree on how much data should be sent at a time, a process often referred to as windowing, which will be discussed in a future article in more detail. Beyond that, this layer also handles something called flow-control - a process by which the receiving system can tell the sender to slow down, as it may be receiving data more quickly that it can process it. Examples of protocols found at this layer include TCP, UDP, and SPX.

Network Layer - Layer 3 of the OSI model is responsible for two key functions - logical addressing and routing. This layer identifies systems uniquely on our internetwork, and also handles how to get from one part of the network to another. This is the layer where most of the network configuration takes place, since protocols such as IP, IPX, and equipment such as routers work here. This layer doesn't concern itself with reliability of the data transfer, since that's the responsibility of the Transport layer. Its concern is more along the lines of ‘where am I going (the address), and how do I get there (the routing).

Data Link Layer - Layer 2 of the OSI Model is concerned with how upper level data is formatted for transmission over a given network technology. For example, if your network is running Ethernet, this layer will format the data accordingly, and follow the rules of Ethernet transmission on the network. Over the course of being transmitted over a large internetworking, the layer may change many times between the source and destination - the journey might start on Ethernet, move over an ATM network, and then end on a Token Ring LAN. The process of getting across those networks might involve a number of Data Link layer changes to the packet on even a short trip. This layer is actually made up of 2 sub-layers, one called the MAC (Media Access Control), which controls accessing the physical network media, and the other called the LLC (Logical Link Control), whose responsibility is identifying and interacting with the upper-level Layer 3 protocol being used. Examples of Data Link protocols include a variety of network communication standards - Ethernet, Token Ring, FDDI and so forth. At this layer, systems are generally identified by what is referred to as their hardware or MAC address.

Physical Layer - Layer 1 of the OSI model is generally the easiest to identify, because it defines the actual media and characteristics used to send the 1's and 0's over the network. This includes the actual wiring itself, the connectors used, voltage levels, maximum media distances and so forth. The physical layer doesn't change the actual data, although the transmission mechanism itself can vary greatly over the course of transferring data. For example, it might start on twisted-pair wiring, move onto a wireless network, and then ultimately end up on fibre - each of which using different media and methods during the transfer process. In this case, copper wiring, then air, and then fibre optic cable.

The Packet Creation Process

So who cares? Good question. The OSI model is all-to-often described without any perspective of why this stuff is actually important. The answer is simple if you just take the time to put it all together in a reasonable scenario; it truly explains what happens when 2 systems actually communicate. The key to understanding the model is to look at it with respect to how a packet is built on the source system and then stripped apart at the receiving end. This process is referred to as data encapsulation.

Data encapsulation is the process by which a packet is built. It all begins which a chunk of data from the application layer. Maybe you want to view a web page or send a file over the network to another system. In order to get to that other system, information will need to be added to the data to account for reliability, how its going to get to where it needs to go, and the network technology in use.

When looking at the OSI model, the 7 Layers are often grouped into 2 main sections. The top section, comprised of the Application, Presentation and Session Layers, are often referred to as the Application layers, while the bottom four are often generically referred to as the Transport layers. For the purpose of looking at the data encapsulation process, the Applications layers are generally considered to simply pass data, while the Transport layers actually ‘add' to the data to help prepare it to make its way across the network.

Remember that the chunk of data is passed down the layers for formatting. Once it reaches the transport layer, it makes its first big change, usually in the form of header and trailer data being added. At each subsequent layer (except the physical layer, which doesn't change the packet) more header and trailer data is added again. This process is referred to as encapsulation, which each layer literally adding to the packet building process.

A key thing to understand is that as each layer receives the packet and adds to it, it considers everything passes down to it as simple data. That is, whatever the transport layer adds is not of concern to the network layer, and so forth. In that way, each lower layer simply considers what is being passed down to it as data. Consider the diagram below, which outlines how each of these layers changes the data (for clarity purposes, I've left off the trailer additions).

What happens above is easily explained, even though the diagram is highly simplified. Once data is passed to the transport layer, it adds header (and trailer, not shown) information to the data. If this were a TCP/IP packet, that would include TCP or UDP source and destination port information. The network layer would see this all as data, not concerned with what was added. Instead, it would encapsulate the data with another header, which would involve adding the source and destination IP addresses. When passed down to the Data Link layer, still another header would be added - in the case of an Ethernet network, this would include the source and destination MAC addresses. This would then be passed to the Physical layer, in the form of binary data being transmitted across the network.

At the receiving end, the data would subsequently by de-encapsulated, layer by layer in the opposite direction. For example, the receiving station would receive the data stream and pass it up to the data link layer.

1. If this station noticed that its MAC address were the destination MAC address, it would know that it has to pay attention and process the packet, striping off the data link header and passing it up to the network layer. If not, it would simply discard the packet at this point.

2. Next, it will pass the packet up to the Network Layer. At this point, it will determine whether the destination IP address is its IP address. If so, it will strip off the network header and pass it up to the transport layer. You should note that just because the MAC address belongs to the system, it doesn't necessarily mean that the IP address does as well. For example, a router will receive many packets with its MAC address and different IP destination addresses, a subject we'll broach once we get into routing.

3. Once the packet has been passed up to the Transport layer, it is definitely destined for this system. This layer will take a look at the destination port listed in the header, strip the header, and then pass the data to the appropriate application that is waiting for the data, assuming that application exists (it may not - imaging a request for a web page from a system not running as a web server)

Note that at each point in the process, a layer only looks at the information added by its equivalent layer at the sending machine. To that end, the only layers that a given layer ever interacts with are the equivalent layers on other systems, as well as the layers directly above and below it on the same system. The fact that layers are independent of each other is another design goal of the OSI model - changing a given layer should not effect other layers in the model

One last note with respect to the encapsulation process described above. As each layer changes the data, the reference name for that data unit is changed. ‘Packet' is a generic name often used to describe the unit at any stage of the process. However, the following terms are commonly used to describe data at different network layers:

Data units above the Transport layer = Messages

Transport layer data units = Segments

Network layer data units = Datagrams or Packets

Data Link layer data units = Frames

The OSI Model's Seven Layers Defined and Functions Explained

2012-09-09T14:27:00.000+06:00

The Open Systems Interconnect (OSI) model has seven layers. This article describes and explains them, beginning with the 'lowest' in the hierarchy (the physical) and proceeding to the 'highest' (the application). The layers are stacked this way:

Application
Presentation
Session
Transport
Network
Data Link
Physical

PHYSICAL LAYER

The physical layer, the lowest layer of the OSI model, is concerned with the transmission and reception of the unstructured raw bit stream over a physical medium. It describes the electrical/optical, mechanical, and functional interfaces to the physical medium, and carries the signals for all of the higher layers. It provides:

Data encoding: modifies the simple digital signal pattern (1s and 0s) used by the PC to better accommodate the characteristics of the physical medium, and to aid in bit and frame synchronization. It determines:
- What signal state represents a binary 1
- How the receiving station knows when a "bit-time" starts
- How the receiving station delimits a frame
Physical medium attachment, accommodating various possibilities in the medium:
- Will an external transceiver (MAU) be used to connect to the medium?
- How many pins do the connectors have and what is each pin used for?
Transmission technique: determines whether the encoded bits will be transmitted by baseband (digital) or broadband (analog) signaling.
Physical medium transmission: transmits bits as electrical or optical signals appropriate for the physical medium, and determines:
- What physical medium options can be used
- How many volts/db should be used to represent a given signal state, using a given physical medium

DATA LINK LAYER

The data link layer provides error-free transfer of data frames from one node to another over the physical layer, allowing layers above it to assume virtually error-free transmission over the link. To do this, the data link layer provides:

Link establishment and termination: establishes and terminates the logical link between two nodes.
Frame traffic control: tells the transmitting node to "back-off" when no frame buffers are available.
Frame sequencing: transmits/receives frames sequentially.
Frame acknowledgment: provides/expects frame acknowledgments. Detects and recovers from errors that occur in the physical layer by retransmitting non-acknowledged frames and handling duplicate frame receipt.
Frame delimiting: creates and recognizes frame boundaries.
Frame error checking: checks received frames for integrity.
Media access management: determines when the node "has the right" to use the physical medium.

NETWORK LAYER

The network layer controls the operation of the subnet, deciding which physical path the data should take based on network conditions, priority of service, and other factors. It provides:

Routing: routes frames among networks.
Subnet traffic control: routers (network layer intermediate systems) can instruct a sending station to "throttle back" its frame transmission when the router's buffer fills up.
Frame fragmentation: if it determines that a downstream router's maximum transmission unit (MTU) size is less than the frame size, a router can fragment a frame for transmission and re-assembly at the destination station.
Logical-physical address mapping: translates logical addresses, or names, into physical addresses.
Subnet usage accounting: has accounting functions to keep track of frames forwarded by subnet intermediate systems, to produce billing information.

Communications Subnet

The network layer software must build headers so that the network layer software residing in the subnet intermediate systems can recognize them and use them to route data to the destination address.

This layer relieves the upper layers of the need to know anything about the data transmission and intermediate switching technologies used to connect systems. It establishes, maintains and terminates connections across the intervening communications facility (one or several intermediate systems in the communication subnet).

In the network layer and the layers below, peer protocols exist between a node and its immediate neighbor, but the neighbor may be a node through which data is routed, not the destination station. The source and destination stations may be separated by many intermediate systems.

TRANSPORT LAYER

The transport layer ensures that messages are delivered error-free, in sequence, and with no losses or duplications. It relieves the higher layer protocols from any concern with the transfer of data between them and their peers.

The size and complexity of a transport protocol depends on the type of service it can get from the network layer. For a reliable network layer with virtual circuit capability, a minimal transport layer is required. If the network layer is unreliable and/or only supports datagrams, the transport protocol should include extensive error detection and recovery.

The transport layer provides:

Message segmentation: accepts a message from the (session) layer above it, splits the message into smaller units (if not already small enough), and passes the smaller units down to the network layer. The transport layer at the destination station reassembles the message.
Message acknowledgment: provides reliable end-to-end message delivery with acknowledgments.
Message traffic control: tells the transmitting station to "back-off" when no message buffers are available.
Session multiplexing: multiplexes several message streams, or sessions onto one logical link and keeps track of which messages belong to which sessions (see session layer).

Typically, the transport layer can accept relatively large messages, but there are strict message size limits imposed by the network (or lower) layer. Consequently, the transport layer must break up the messages into smaller units, or frames, prepending a header to each frame.

The transport layer header information must then include control information, such as message start and message end flags, to enable the transport layer on the other end to recognize message boundaries. In addition, if the lower layers do not maintain sequence, the transport header must contain sequence information to enable the transport layer on the receiving end to get the pieces back together in the right order before handing the received message up to the layer above.

End-to-end layers

Unlike the lower "subnet" layers whose protocol is between immediately adjacent nodes, the transport layer and the layers above are true "source to destination" or end-to-end layers, and are not concerned with the details of the underlying communications facility. Transport layer software (and software above it) on the source station carries on a conversation with similar software on the destination station by using message headers and control messages.

SESSION LAYER

The session layer allows session establishment between processes running on different stations. It provides:

Session establishment, maintenance and termination: allows two application processes on different machines to establish, use and terminate a connection, called a session.
Session support: performs the functions that allow these processes to communicate over the network, performing security, name recognition, logging, and so on.

PRESENTATION LAYER

The presentation layer formats the data to be presented to the application layer. It can be viewed as the translator for the network. This layer may translate data from a format used by the application layer into a common format at the sending station, then translate the common format to a format known to the application layer at the receiving station.

The presentation layer provides:

Character code translation: for example, ASCII to EBCDIC.
Data conversion: bit order, CR-CR/LF, integer-floating point, and so on.
Data compression: reduces the number of bits that need to be transmitted on the network.
Data encryption: encrypt data for security purposes. For example, password encryption.

APPLICATION LAYER

The application layer serves as the window for users and application processes to access network services. This layer contains a variety of commonly needed functions:

Resource sharing and device redirection
Remote file access
Remote printer access
Inter-process communication
Network management
Directory services
Electronic messaging (such as mail)
Network virtual terminals

NetSim network simulator software for Cisco certification practice

2012-09-09T14:14:00.000+06:00

Boson has been developing simulator software for about four years, and the current release of its NetSim product shows that the investment in time and money was well spent. Boson's NetSim has one of the widest selections of simulated equipment aside from Gambit’s Cisco simulator. And for the price, no one else offers anything close to NetSim's features. My following review of NetSim explains all the simulation software features you get for a miserly $150 to $250.

NetSim versions

There are two versions of NetSim. There is a current version called Cisco CCNA Network Simulator v5.00, which is also packaged and sold by Cisco Systems as part of its CCNA training material. This CCNA version is $150 and offers a credit to the full version if you decide to upgrade at a later date. In late July 2004, there will be a new CCNP version released called Boson NetSim for CCNP v6.00. This version will have the full feature set that allows coverage of the CCNP track and will support, to a degree, the CCIE track. The big difference between the two versions is the advanced commands (such as routing protocol BGP) will be supported and enabled in the CCNP version. Boson is also offering upgrades to anyone with V5.x of its NetSim product to the new version 6.

The following are sample labs included with NetSim version 5.00:

Introductory labs such as using debug, the Command Line Interface (CLI), and configuring the router
Moderately complex labs such as ARP, static routes, protocols, and PPP with CHAP
VLSM labs to practice your TCP/IP subnet skills
VLAN labs such as configuring VLANs and routing between VLANs
VTP labs to explain and demonstrate what VTP is and how to configure it
Loopback labs
Routing Protocol labs including RIP, IGRP, and OSPF (BGP in the CCNP)
IPX labs
Frame Relay labs
Access List labs, both Standard lists and Extended lists
ISDN labs
Labs needed to meet the Cisco CCNA and ICND requirements

System requirements

The system requirements for NetSim are pretty light considering what is going on in the background. The basic requirements are:

Windows 98, Me, NT4, 2000, XP (non-server product)
20 MB of disk space
64 MB of RAM
800 x 600 screen resolution
Active Internet connection (for registration)

My testing was conducted on Windows 98, Windows 2000, and Windows XP Pro operating systems. While 98 will work with NetSim, it is slow in regards to response time. The platforms used were an older PIII 800 with 576 MB of RAM and a new P4 2.8-GHz with 512 MB of RAM. NetSim does require Microsoft MDAC 2.8 to be installed, so you might have to download the components from the Microsoft Windows support Web site.

Using the NetSim interface

There are several ways to use either the CCNA or the CCNP NetSim product. One way is to work through the various labs that are included. The second way is to design your own labs and network configurations. Another unique feature of the NetSim product is that you can also use third-party telnet clients. These clients include TeraTerm, Absolute Telnet, Telnet 2000, TinyTerm, among others. In Figure A, you can see TeraTerm being used as the telnet application. This method can be very helpful since TeraTerm can be configured to log the entire session, so you can go back and study everything you did, step by step.

Figure A

You can use TeraTerm as a telnet client to work in NetSim.

In Figure B, you see the complete NetSim workspace with a Network map loaded showing two 3600 series routers and a 3500 switch. You can also see the two open telnet sessions.

Figure B

This screen shows the Expert mode where the majority of users will be the most comfortable.

NetSim features

There is a feature of NetSim that sets it apart from virtually all of the other simulators with the exception of Gambit's MIMIC and eRouter. NetSim uses a technology called Virtual Packets that creates packets to be routed and switched within the simulated network. This feature allows NetSim to build a virtual routing table for each protocol and gives flexibility to the CCNA far beyond the standard simulator fare.

Note

Virtual Packets requires opening up loopback address 127.0.0.1 on personal firewalls such as ZoneAlarm and allowing Telnet Port 23 access to the loopback network. I used Kerio's Personal Firewall on one of the test systems and, once I configured NetSim as a Trusted Network, no problems arose. The printed manual gives instructions for configuring Norton Personal Firewall and ZoneAlarm.

Some other notable features include:

The ability to use canned labs or to build your own and save them for future use.
The option to load in real router configurations, which is handy because you can save the configurations without having to save the entire lab. When you mock up a solution for a real world problem you can load the saved configurations into your equipment.
When you are in a telnet session, you can use the hot key combination of CTRL-Q and bring up a terminal server so you can quickly shift among all the different devices.
When you configure a device like a 3600 series router, you can pick and choose which cards will be put into what slot. The hardware configuration is dynamic, so you can match existing hardware or work with different configurations.
When using the CLI of the router or switch, the newest version of NetSim has corrected a known issue whereby the ^ symbol did not match up with the error on the command line.
Unlike some other products, this product is not vendor specific where you can only use certain labs or books.

Upcoming features

One of the benefits of being a technical writer is that software developers like to tell me what they are working on next. In the case of NetSim’s development team, they are busy to say the least. Take a quick look at some of the features due out in the coming months for NetSim:

Boson NetSim Lab Compiler – This will allow teachers to write and compile their own labs into the NetSim framework. These labs can be distributed to the students or posted to a Web site for downloads. This would also open things up for something like a "CCNP Challenge" where you could post your own lab and people would come up with a solution in a timed manner.
Packet Logger – This is a network sniffer that allows you to detect packets on the NetSim network. This feature will open up a lot of possibilities from the networking perspective into how packets work. This is a very exciting development and should be out in September 2004.
There is also a new classroom management package that allows the instructor to remotely access the student’s lab and help troubleshoot the student’s problems.

Final thoughts

During my testing of NetSim, neither the CCNA or CCNP products locked up or crashed the test systems. The Windows XP system I used is a complete mess of applications and, if anything has a chance of crashing, it will on this system. However, NetSim loaded up fine and worked without a fuss.

For the price, the NetSim product is offering a tremendous amount of value to the CCNA and CCNP candidate. And with some of the new features that have been added, it becomes a network designer tool where you can make a change to a network before you actually touch a console. The included labs are high quality and cover everything that a candidate needs to know to pass the CCNA and CCNP certification tests. With the exception of my Windows 98 client, the responsiveness of NetSim has also been improved from previous versions. With the new features coming out shortly, I would recommend NetSim for any network engineer, whether that engineer is working on a Cisco certification or just needs a tool to help manage and troubleshoot existing networks.

Learn CCNA with Cisco Packet Tracer

2012-09-09T13:46:00.000+06:00

I have been using Cisco Packet Tracer primarily for many of my CCNA labs and I find it to be a great piece of software. Whether you don’t have access to real Cisco equipment, or you cant afford to purchase some of your own, Packet Tracer is as good as it gets.

I have a home lab that consists of several switches and routers, but I find myself away from home most of the time and cant get enough time at home to lab. I have Packet Tracer installed on my laptop and I use it all the time to practice configurations and lab concepts.

You can do simple configurations like leased line WAN links using HDLC or PPP encapsulation. You can also practice some of your more advanced configurations like Frame-Relay and even setup a Frame-Relay cloud that connects multiple sites.

I love the fact that you can actually see what the devices look like and install real world WIC cards like the WIC-1T, WIC-2T and WIC-1ENET.

I also find the CLI is very close to the real thing and only lacking some of the more advanced commands and setting like some Frame-Relay commands (no frame-relay inverse-arp), and setting up OSPF route summarization.

You have the ability to setup client machines of various types like laptops, servers, handheld devices, wireless devices, and even wireless access-points as well

Packet Tracer runs on Windows and Linux systems. I have it running on Linux using the WINE emulator, but I could install the native version as well. I find that the Windows version seems to get updated more frequently because its obviously what the majority of Cisco students use, so thats the version I prefer.

Good job Cisco on a awesome learning tool and keep up the great work!

You can download Packet Tracer from the Cisco website, but you must have a Cisco account.

Install iRedMail on Red Hat Enterprise Linux, CentOS, Scientific Linux

2012-09-09T13:40:00.000+06:00

System Requirements

WARNING: iRedMail is designed to be deployed on a FRESH server system, which means your server does NOT have mail related components installed, e.g. MySQL, OpenLDAP, Postfix, Dovecot, Amavisd, etc. Otherwise it may override your existing files/configurations althought it will backup files before modifing, and it may be not working as expected.

To install iRedMail, you need:

A FRESH, working RHEL, CentOS, Scientific Linux system. Supported releases are listed on page Features of iRedMail.
At least 512MB of memory is required for production use.

Note: All third-party binary packages will be installed from below yum repositories, packages with '-ired' flag were packed by iRedMail project:

Dag Wieers: http://packages.sw.be/
EPEL (Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux): http://download.fedora.redhat.com/pub/epel/
ATrpms: http://atrpms.net/

Preparations

Set a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) hostname on your server

Enter command 'hostname -f' to view the current hostname:

$ hostname -f
demo.iredmail.org

On RHEL/CentOS/Scientific Linux, hostname is set in two files:

/etc/sysconfig/network: hostname setting

# Part of file: /etc/sysconfig/network
HOSTNAME=demo.iredmail.org

/etc/hosts: hostname <=> IP address mapping. Warning: List the FQDN hostname as first item.

# Part of file: /etc/hosts
127.0.0.1   demo.iredmail.org demo localhost localhost.localdomain

Verify the FQDN hostname. If it wasn't changed, please reboot server to make it work.

$ hostname -f
demo.iredmail.org

Enable yum repositories for installing new packages

For CentOS or Scientific Linux, please enable CentOS/Scientific official yum repositories, and DISABLE all third-party yum repositories to avoid package conflict.
For Red Hat Enterprise Linux, please enable Red Hat Network to install packages, or create a local yum repository with DVD/CD ISO images.

Download the latest release of iRedMail

Visit Download page to get the latest release of iRedMail.
Upload iRedMail to your mail server via ftp or scp or whatever method you can use, login to the server to install iRedMail. We assume you uploaded it to directory /root/iRedMail-x.y.z.tar.bz2 (replace x.y.z by the actual version number).
Uncompress iRedMail tarball:

# cd /root/
# tar xjf iRedMail-x.y.z.tar.bz2

Start iRedMail installer

It's now ready to start iRedMail installer, it will ask you some simple questions, that's all steps to setup a full-featured mail server.

For Chinese users: Our domain name "iredmail.org" is blocked in China mainland since Jun 04, 2011, please replace all 'iredmail.org' by its IP address "173.254.22.21" (without quotes) in /root/iRedMail-x.y.z/pkgs/get_all.sh BEFORE executing "iRedMail.sh".

# cd /root/iRedMail-x.y.z/
# bash iRedMail.sh

Screenshots of installation:
1) Welcome and thanks for your use

2) Specify location to store all mailboxes. Default is /var/vmail/.

3) Choose backend used to store mail accounts. Please choose the one which you're familiar with. You can manage mail accounts with iRedAdmin, our web-based iRedMail admin panel.

4) If you choose to store mail accounts in OpenLDAP, iRedMail installer will ask you two questions about OpenLDAP.
4.1) LDAP suffix.

4.2) Password of LDAP root dn.

5) Set password of MySQL root user. MySQL is used to store data of other applications, e.g. Roundcube webmail, Policyd, Amavisd-new. If you choose to store mail accounts in MySQL, you will see this dialog too.

6) Add your first mail domain name

7) Set password of admin account of your first mail domain. Note:

This account is used only for system administration, not a mail user. That means you CANNOT login to webmail with this account.
You can login to iRedAdmin (web-based iRedMail admin panel) with this account for mail accont management, login name is full email address.
Admin username is hard-coded, you can create new admins with iRedAdmin after installation completed.

8) Set password of first mail user of your first mail domain. Note:

This account is a normal mail user, that means you can login to webmail with this account, login name is full email address.
Username is hard-coded, you can create new mail users with iRedAdmin after installation completed.

9) Choose optional components

After answered these questions, iRedMail installer will ask your confirm to start installation. It will install and configure required packages automatically. Type 'y' or 'Y' (without quotes) and press 'Enter' to confirm.

Configuration completed.

*************************************************************************
**************************** WARNING ***********************************
*************************************************************************
*                                                                       *
* Please do remember to *REMOVE* configuration file after installation  *
* completed successfully.                                               *
*                                                                       *
*   * /root/iRedMail-x.y.z/config
*                                                                       *
*************************************************************************
<<< iRedMail >>> Continue? [Y|n]        # <- Type 'Y' or 'y' here, and press 'Enter' to continue

Important things you should know after installation

Read file /root/iRedMail-x.y.z/iRedMail.tips first, it contains:
- URLs, usernames and passwords of web-based applications
- Location of mail serve related software configuration files
- Some other important and/or sensitive information
Setup DNS record for SPF
Setup DNS record for DKIM

Access webmail and other web applications

After installation successfully completed, you can access web-based programs if you choose to install them. Replace 'your_server' below by your actual server name or IP address.

Component	URL	Accessible via HTTP	Accessible via HTTPS
Webmail	http://your_server/mail/ (or /webmail, /roundcube)
iRedAdmin (admin panel)	httpS://your_server/iredadmin/
phpMyAdmin	httpS://your_server/phpmyadmin/
phpLDAPadmin	httpS://your_server/phpldapadmin/
Awstats	httpS://your_server/awstats/awstats.pl?config=web (or ?config=smtp)

Windows server 2008 r2 forgot administrator password

2012-09-02T11:46:00.001+06:00

Forgot Windows Password, hack windows password, Windows Password Reset

I forgot administrator password of windows server 2008 r2. I have no idea on log on that server without administrator password. Does somebody tell me how to recover the lost password for my win server 2008? – Question from Microsoft community.

If we forget the administrator of a windows server 2008 (r2), how to do? This post shows how to reset a lost password for windows server 2008 with password software.

Tips: To reset windows server 2008 (r2) password offline, a USB flash drive or a CD/DVD burn device and a blank CD/DVD is need.

1. Reset windows server 2008 administrator password with Spower Password Reset Special.

Tips: this method not only work to reset windows server 2008 domain administrator password, but also work with a local administrator password on windows server 2008 (r2).

Spower Windows Password Reset Special can help to reset local and domain password for windows 2000/xp/2003/vista/win7/2008 without any password.

Follow the instructions below to make a 2008 password disk, and reset a new password to the administrator user with the password disk.

Step 1: Download Spower Password Reset Special (trial version) and install it on a windows (windows 7, vista, xp, 2000 or 2008).
Step 2: Launch Spower Password Reset Special, and insert USB flash drive or CD/DVD disc to create a windows 2008 password disk.

Step 3: Boot the locked windows server computer from windows 2008 password disk.
Step 4: Reset windows 2008 domain administrator password with the Spower Password Program – Select the administrator account, and click the reset button to reset a new password to it..

2. Reset windows server 2008 local administrator password with Windows Password Rescuer Advanced (WPRA).

With Windows Password Rescuer Professional, the administrator password can be reset in a few click. Step as follow:

1. Download Windows Password Rescuer Advanced (trial version) and install it.
2. Make a 2008 password reset disk with WPRP. Insert a USB or CD disk, and click the burn button to make a password disk.
3. Boot the locked windows server computer from 2008 password reset disk.
4. Reset the lost password for administrator. Click administrator account to make it selected, and then click reset button to create a new password for it.

Tags: windows server 2008 r2 forgot administrator password

Hack Windows 7 password with Ophcrack live cd

2012-09-02T11:35:00.000+06:00

hack windows 7 password, hack windows password, Ophcrack

http://linux-mac-windows.blogspot.com/2012/08/how-to-hack-password-on-windows-7-with.html

With Ophcrack live cd, we can recover Windows 7, vista and xp password easily. Here shows you the step by step tutorial to hack windows 7 password with Ophcrack.

Something about Ophcrack . Ophcrack is a free open source windows password hack program. Ophcrack hack windows password using by using rainbow tables.

What Ophcrack live cd can do. Ophcrack live cd can help you recover windows the most lost windows password. With free Ophcrack live cd which has a default rainbow table can help to crack short Windows password in a few minutes. If you want to hack long windows password, you need to buy one or more large (larger then 10G) rainbow tables.

Note: You have to know, even with the largest rainbow tables , still many passwords cannot be crack in windows vista and windows 7.

How Ophcrack works. Ophcrack is known as cracking windows password through big rainbow tables. Ophcrack read LM or NTLM hashes from SAM file, and then it find the hash value in rainbow tables. So the more complex password need the larger rainbow table to crack.

Get Ophcrack live cd. Ophcrack has two different live cds for different Windows system, one for Windows xp, one for Windows vista and Windows 7. To hack Windows 7 password, we need to download ophcrack Vista LiveCD.

What you download will be an ISO file – ophcrack-vista-livecd-2.3.1.iso.

Use Ophcrack live cd to hack Windows 7 password. If have downloaded Ophcrack Vista LiveCD, follow the steps below to hack windows 7 password.

Step 1 – Burn Ophcrack Vista Live CD to a CD or DVD disc. Use a ISO file burn program to burn the ophcrack-vista-livecd-2.3.1.iso to the cd or dvd disc. Note: You cannot burn the iso file to the cd or dvd disc like burning a common file. You should use the Burn ISO Image option the burn program provides to burn the iso file to cd or dvd disc, or you will fail to boot the computer from Ophcrack Vista Live CD. If you have trouble in this operation, you can refer to How to burn ISO image file to CD/DVD disc.

Step 2 – Boot the computer which will be hacked from Ophcrack Vista Live CD. Note: The following steps should happen on the computer you want to hack, instead happen on the computer you are using.
2.1 Insert Ophcrack Vista Live CD to the computer.

2.2 Access to BIOS Setup Utility to Set the CD/DVD-ROM as the first boot device.
2.3 Press 10 to save BIOS setting and then restart computer.

Tip: If you fail to boot from Ophcrack Vista Live CD, you should check whether you used the right way to burn the ISO file to CD/DVD disc, and check whether you have set the computer to boot from CD/DVD-ROM.

Step 3 – Get the password has been hacked by Ophcrack. After boot from Ophcrack Vista Live CD, you do not need to do anything. What you should just do is write down the password has been hack. The user column will list the user Ophcrack find in system. The NT Pwd column will list the password has been found. If the NT Pwd field is empty for a special user, the password has not been found yet.

Tip: If Ophcrack fail to find the password for you, you can try other password reset/recover software. Refer to How to hack windows 7 admin password in a few minutes for using another software to hack windows 7 password.

Step 4 – Resart Windows and login with the recovered password. Press the restart button of your computer or click Menu -> Logout -> Reboot system to restart computer, and then login with the hacked password.

Reference site:

Samsung didn't pay Apple $1.05 billion in 5 cent coins

2012-08-31T13:46:00.001+06:00

Over the past couple of days, various rumours have indicated that Samsung paid Apple $1.5 billion in 5 cent coins. A California jury had awarded Apple the amount in damages, at the end of a long-standing patent infringement dispute with Samsung. The news of Samsung paying the damages in nickels spread widely via the website MobileEntertainment, though it had originated on a Mexico-based parody website El Deforma, and then made it to 9gag as a cartoon.

MobileEntertainment reported, "Yesterday, more than 30 trucks filled with five cent coins arrived at Apple’s headquarters in California. Apple security were in the process of freaking out before Apple CEO Tim Cook was called by Samsung explaining that they will pay all of the $1.05 billion they owe Apple in coins, and this was the first instalment".

Is Samsung trolling with Apple?

Hilarious as it might have been, and though Samsung fans might have hoped it was true, it isn't. MobileEntertainment later updated its story revealing that it was a fake. Though the verdict has been reached, the fine that has been awarded to Apple is not yet payable. Besides that, Samsung will almost certainly appeal the verdict, which will delay the actual process of payment indefinitely. A report by the Guardian has listed several points that indicate that this information is nothing but a hoax. The Guardian reports, “Samsung's fine ($1.049bn) isn't yet payable; the judge hasn't ruled. All we have is the jury's verdict. The judge's decision, which could include a tripling of the fine, is due on 20 September (or possibly 6 December now; it's unclear). Until then, Samsung only has to pay its lawyers. That should be less than $1bn”.

If this isn't enough to put the hoax to rest, a resource put up by the US Treasury explains why Samsung cannot pay Apple the amount due in coins. The statement reads, “The pertinent portion of law that applies to your question is the Coinage Act of 1965, specifically Section 31 U.S.C. 5103, entitled "Legal tender," which states: "United States coins and currency (including Federal reserve notes and circulating notes of Federal reserve banks and national banks) are legal tender for all debts, public charges, taxes, and dues. This statute means that all United States money as identified above are a valid and legal offer of payment for debts when tendered to a creditor. There is, however, no Federal statute mandating that a private business, a person or an organization must accept currency or coins as for payment for goods and/or services. Private businesses are free to develop their own policies on whether or not to accept cash unless there is a State law which says otherwise. For example, a bus line may prohibit payment of fares in pennies or dollar bills. In addition, movie theaters, convenience stores and gas stations may refuse to accept large denomination currency (usually notes above $20) as a matter of policy”.

Hence, if Samsung and its 30 trucks filled with 5 cent coins reach the gates of the Apple headquarters, they would most certainly be asked to take a U-turn post haste, and head right back to where they came from. If this rumour had been true, the scenario where 30 trucks filled with small change adding up to a billion dollars might easily have gone down as the biggest, funniest, and most expensive troll in history.

RIP Neil Armstrong, A Huge Loss for Mankind

2012-08-27T16:14:00.002+06:00

Apollo 11 and Apoll0 17 composite portrait of Neil Armstrong saluting the U.S. Flag by Stuart Atkinson. Image from NASA.

Neil Armstrong‘s first step on the moon made him famous, but his “one small step for man… one giant leap for mankind” immortalized him. Today, August 25, 2012, GeekMom, NASA, America, and the entire world, lost a great man. Neil Armstrong passed away today, at the age of 82, of cardio-vascular complications after undergoing heart-bypass surgery. Armstrong lived in Cincinnati, Ohio, with his wife Carol.

Neil Armstrong was a retired naval aviator when his he was chosen to be part of the second class of astronauts. After so many years as a test pilot, he was an easy choice for such a prestigious position, especially since he would be the first civilian aviator selected. Armstrong’s first command was also his first space flight as part of the Gemini 8 mission. The mission included the first ever docking between two spacecraft, and was successfully completed after only 6.5 hours in orbit. The mission was cut short after a malfunction in the attitude control system that required an emergency re-entry before the panned extravehicular activities could be completed.

Armstrong’s second and final mission to space was as commander of Apollo 11, the first mission to land on the moon. On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong became the first of only twelve men to ever walk upon the lunar surface. Shortly after the resounding success of Apollo 11, Armstrong announced that he didn’t plan to ever fly in space again.

After retiring from NASA, Neil Armstrong became a professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Cincinnati where he taught for eight years. After abruptly resigning his position with no explanation, Armstrong retired from all public activities and has remained that way for most of the rest of his life. He was vehemently opposed to the use of his likeness or persona for others personal gain and often took individuals or companies to court in an effort to preserve his privacy and identity.

In the last few years, Armstrong had become a public supporter of a manned Mars mission and sharply criticized the cancellation of the Constellation Moon Program. In an open public letter also signed by Apollo veterans Jim Lovell and Gene Cernan, he noted, “For The United States, the leading space faring nation for nearly half a century, to be without carriage to low Earth orbit and with no human exploration capability to go beyond Earth orbit for an indeterminate time into the future, destines our nation to become one of second or even third rate stature.”

GeekMom wants to send our condolences to the entire Armstrong family on the loss of such an icon. Just take solace in the fact that while Armstrong may have passed from Earth, his legacy will forever be imprinted on the heavens.

Tips and Tricks for Linux Mint after Installation [Mint 10 and 11] Updated

2012-08-26T14:59:00.001+06:00

Introduction

Linux Mint is one of the top free operating systems widely used in the world and currently receives the highest hits at DistroWatch.

Even though it's an Ubuntu-based system, Linux Mint features only one panel at the bottom which looks closer to the taskbar in the Windows system, and a well-organized start menu complete with a useful Search box. It also pre-installs some proprietary software, including the Adobe Flash plugin and necessary media codecs, by default so that you can view streaming media, such as YouTube videos in a browser, and play mp3, mp4 or most other media files with a player right away out of the box.

If you have the Linux Mint system which comes with the default Gnome-2 desktop environment installed in your PC, you might find these tips and tricks useful for working with the system.

Note: The steps described in this article work best with Linux Mint 11 and Linux Mint 10. If you're using Linux Mint 13 Maya, please check out the articles for the Cinnamon Edition and MATE Edition.

Pin Programs to the Panel

Frequently used programs can be easily pinned to the panel.

Browse to a program from Menu > Applications.
Drag and drop the program to an empty space in the panel, or right-click the program and select "Add to panel".
Right click the program icon, select "Move" and drop it to a new place in the panel.
Right click the program icon and select "Lock to Panel".

InstallFree Nexus brings Microsoft Office to iPads via the cloud

2012-08-22T18:17:00.002+06:00

Earlier this year, the Internet was abuzz with what appeared to be a version of Microsoft Word running on the iPad. Today, we’re no closer to seeing Word as a native iPad app than we were when it was spotted briefly in the wild six months ago.

That doesn’t mean that you can’t edit or create Word documents on an iPad. There are a number of offerings that bring the Microsoft Office experience to the iPad, such as DataViz’s Docs to Go or Quickoffice, as well as services such as CloudOn, Nivio Online Desktop and InstallFree Nexus. You can even use Microsoft’s web apps to edit Word documents in a pinch, if you have Google’s web browser, Chrome, installed on your iPad.

Of the various alternatives available to Word lovers, InstallFree Nexus is an intriguing one, even though it seems to be ill named: Its use of “Nexus” is bound to get the app confused with Google-backed hardware of the same name. Moreover, there’s nothing to “install”—the service runs entirely from the cloud—and there’s nothing “free” for subscribers who want to use Microsoft Office apps from the service over the long haul.

Joining the service is fast and easy. During the registration process, you provide an email address, create a password and associate a cloud storage service with your account. Storage services supported by InstallFree Nexus include Dropbox, Skydrive, Google drive and Box.com.

Once logged in to InstallFree Nexus, you can swiftly import files from your cloud storage service then work on them in any Microsoft Office program. When you’re finished, you can save your file to your cloud storage and return to it from any device that can run a browser, including the iPad’s version of Safari.

On the iPad, gestures can be used to work within Word or other applications. A three-finger tap, for instance, displays a virtual keyboard in Word with a traditional QWERTY layout, including numbers and symbols in the top row, and embedded function keys, F1-F12.

Apple’s Bluetooth keyboard can also be used with Word in InstallFree Nexus. However, it does require that the virtual keyboard be shut off from the settings menu.

A problem Word users will immediately find with using the word processor on the iPad is that most of the icons on the ribbon bar are too tiny to be very useful. And with the ribbon bar and keyboard displayed on the screen, very little text space is left on the tablet’s screen.

As a service, InstallFree Nexus doesn’t seem ready for prime time, either. Word crashed occasionally. Sometimes the site freezes. My link to Dropbox was dropped and I couldn’t access my files from within Word. And the performance within Word was sluggish. All of which added up to not a very pleasant experience.

Currently, InstallFree Nexus is offering a free 60-day trial of its service that includes use of Office 2010 apps. After that, those apps are offered on a subscription basis: $5 a month/$50 a year for students; $20 a month/$200 a year for non-students.

In addition to offering cloud access to Microsoft programs, InstallFree Nexus offers free access to the LibreOffice suite.

by John P. Mello Jr., PCWorld

Linux Mint 10 New Menu Features

2012-08-22T18:13:00.000+06:00

The Linux Mint main menu has received even more changes in the recent release of Linux Mint 10. Users can now see new menu items highlighted, search for and install software, and search the web from inside of the menu. The main menu also supports GTK bookmarks and its own GTK theme independent from the rest of the desktop.

New Menu Layout

Here you can see the Places and System parts of the menu in the left column and the favorites menu icons spread over the right two columns. You will find an 'All applications' link in the top right corner of the menu.

After selecting "All applications' you can see a list of applications categories in the center column and selected categories applications in the right column.

Install Applications From The Menu

By typing in the search field at the bottom of the menu users can do a variety of things including, install packages from the repositories, search the web and more. The screenshot below shows a skype installation about to happen from the menu.

New Menu Applications Highlighted

Another new feature for Linux Mint 10 shows up after you've installed an application. In the menu you'll notice the new application appears highlighted in the Mint menu. This looks great and makes it a little easier to find your freshly installed application.

GTK Bookmarks In The Menu

Another convenient enhancement is how you can add GTK bookmarks into the Linux Mint 10 menu. Here you can see several options and a place at the bottom where you can create new bookmarks for the menu. I've created one to my Work folder.

GTK Menu Themes

Now you can theme your menu apart from your normal desktop theme. Here you can see custom colors, borders and GTK themes being applied. Open the Menu preferences window shown below by right clicking on the main menu icon and selecting preferences.

Video of Linux Mint 10 Menu Features

Watch the video for a full overview of all of the new Linux Mint 10 menu features and how to use them.